In January 47-year-old Indonesian Mr Irvung Tio won a million-dollar windfall at Changi Airport as the overall winner of Changi Airport Group’s (CAG) ‘Be a Changi Millionaire’ 2013 Grand Draw. The Jakarta-based businessman, who works in the waste management industry, bought his wife some cosmetics at Changi Airport in September last year – never expecting that his purchase would be his ticket to becoming S$1 million richer.
The ‘Be a Changi Millionaire’ Draw at Changi Airport is Singapore’s biggest retail promotion, featuring the largest prize purse in a local retail promotion and by any airport in the world. The fourth run of CAG’s annual anchor promotion, which was open for entries from May to October 2013, culminated in a dramatic grand finale at Changi Airport. Over the six-month period, one finalist was drawn each month for participation
From all over the world, six lucky passengers returned to the Changi’s Terminal 3; two from Singapore, two from China, and one each from Russia and Indonesia for the draw to determine the winner. The finalists went head-to-head over four rounds of games that involved progressive elimination, in a bid to stake their claim on the grand prize.
The last two remaining contestants were Mr Tio and Ms Thum Pei Xing, from Singapore. After a nail-biting round, Mr Tio emerged triumphant, triggering a dramatic shower of confetti and fanfare, pronouncing him the overall winner.
Accompanied by his wife, daughter and son, who were all ecstatic over his win, Mr Tio said, “I am very happy and my family is still in shock from the unbelievable moment. We came here with the mentality of playing some games and having a fun family holiday and didn’t want to focus too much about the outcome. In fact, at the last round, I thought the other contestant would win. We cannot believe our luck!” said Mr Tio.
Asked what he would do with the money, Mr Tio said he would put a big part of the sum towards his retirement nest egg. “I will definitely save it up for the future. Before that, the first thing we will do now is to have a celebration dinner at Changi Airport before we fly back to Jakarta.” He also said he would take a holiday with the family during his children’s school holidays and look at donating part of the winnings to charity.
Frequent visitors of Singapore and Changi Airport, Mr Tio and his family made more than five trips to Singapore in 2013. In September 2013, the Tios were on their way home after one such holiday, when they shopped at Changi Airport. He bought $667 worth of Shiseido skincare products for his wife, which turned out to be his winning ticket to the million-dollar fortune!
As a result of the positive response received, CAG will be running the fifth instalment of the ‘Be a Changi Millionaire’ Draw in 2014. More details will be unveiled in the coming months with “instant prizes” that include the new iPad mini, Samsung Galaxy camera, shopping vouchers, plush toys and travel accessories.
