Loyal reader wins SmartTV

HE IS now the proud owner of a new Samsung 46-inch 3-D LED SmartTV.

 

And all he had to do was read his favourite newspaper, The New Paper.

 

Mr Danny Ong, 47, who does project sales, said: “I like TNP because it’s small and easy to carry around. Furthermore, the news is short and sharp. Sometimes you don’t need to know all the details, you just need to know what happened.”

 

Mr Ong was just picking up his workers on Monday when he noticed a yellow Bingo card on that day’s edition of TNP. 

 

Out of curiosity, he bought three copies of that day’s paper to take part in the contest. But he didn’t expect much from it at the time.

 

Mr Ong was taking a boating course at Punggol Marina yesterday when he realised that he had actually won.

 

“I was just reading the news when I realised that my numbers formed a straight (vertical) row. I rushed all the way to Genting Lane from Punggol.”

 

Winning the SmartTV was an even bigger stroke of luck for Mr Ong as he had intended to buy a 32-inch one.

 

He said “I was planning to buy a SmartTV as it means I don’t have to surf the Net at my desk. I can surf from the comfort and convenience of my bed.” 

 

He is now facing a lack of room in his house.

 

He already has a 37-inch TV in his living room and a 20-inch TV in his bedroom.

 

“I couldn’t believe that I had won. In fact, I still don’t,” he said with a laugh.

 

Mr Ong is not the only reader who won yesterday.

 

Ms Laura Tan Wei Ling, 25, who helps out with the family business of manufacturing drinks, won the Xbox 4GB Kinect bundle.

 

“I only realised I won at around nine in the morning. I was extremely shocked,” she said.

 

Alas, she is not a gamer and would have rather won the cash prize.

 

She plans to give the Xbox to her cousins, who are 12 and 15 years old.

 

“One of my cousins’ birthday is next Monday. I intend to give them the Xbox at our weekly family gathering later this week. They’re going to be overjoyed,” she said.

 

For TNP readers who have yet to win anything this week, fret not. The Samsung TV and Xbox may be gone, but the daily cash prize jackpot has since snowballed to $3,000.

 

Launched this week, the Bingo contest is meant to reward loyal TNP readers.

 

Taxi driver Arin Hussain, 49, is one of many who are waiting to hit the jackpot.

 

He keeps his Bingo card in his taxi and has clippings of each day’s Bingo numbers attached to it.

 

Mr Arin said: “When I first told my daughter about the contest, she chided me for buying only one copy of TNP. If I had told her earlier, she would have bought more.”

 

But he added: “If I’m meant to win, I’ll win, no matter what. I have only one number left to go.”