Two share $12,000 TNP Bonus Challenge jackpot

He was watching the clock as it slowly ticked away.

At stake was $12,000 cash, the jackpot for The New Paper Bonus Challenge that Mr Chiew Hock Hai could take home - if there were no other winners yesterday.

He and his wife even left their home early in case they got lost and missed the 9pm cut-off time.

Five minutes before 9pm, his hopes were dashed.

Another winner walked in.

But Mr Chiew, 69, was still all smiles.

The retiree said: "I thought I was the only winner. But it's okay. I calculated that even if there were four winners, I would still have won $3,000.

"That's not too bad."

Not bad indeed. After splitting the jackpot with Mr Lim Kim Peng, he was still $6,000 richer.

And all because both The New Paper readers took part in our contest.

But Mr Chiew said his journey to become a winner did not happen overnight. Although he had been taking part in every single TNP Bonus Challenge, yesterday was the first time his efforts paid off.

"Every week, I waited for the last winning number. I waited so long that when I finally won, nobody believed me," Mr Chew said.

It was different for Mr Lim.

The 51-year-old bulk cargo supervisor, who arrived in the nick of time to claim his prize, said it was his first attempt at the Bonus Challenge.

"A friend introduced me to this and I thought, why not?" he said.

Asked how he intends to spend the money, Mr Lim smiled and shrugged.

"I don't know yet. I haven't told anyone about it," he said.

Another winner last night was Mr Benny Chu, 38, who won the $100 cash prize.

He could not hide his disappointment when he found out that the $12,000 jackpot had been claimed.

"I was only one number short of winning the jackpot and I was hoping the winning number would appear in the papers tomorrow.

I thought I could be the jackpot winner," he said.

"But it's not too bad. At least I can use the $100 for my son's birthday. I can treat him to a movie and buy him a bicycle."

HOW TO PLAY

Match the numbers on your Bonus Challenge card with the six digits in each issue of TNP from Tuesday to Sunday.

If a vertical row is matched (from top to bottom), players should go to the lobby of the Singapore Press Holdings News Centre in Toa Payoh North to claim their prize by answering a simple question.

Prizes must be collected on the same day between 8pm and 9pm.

The jackpot cash prize starts at $1,000 today.

It will snowball the next day if it remains unclaimed by 9pm.

Other prizes up for grabs include an Airwheel S3 electric scooter and an Airwheel Q5 electric unicycle.

This is the last week for the Bonus Challenge.

"Every week, I waited for the last winning number. I waited so long that when I finally won, nobody believed me."

- Mr Chiew Hock Hai