Woman, 77, wins $386k from bank draw

KUALA LUMPUR: A 77-year-old woman from Kuala Klawang, Jelebu, Negri Sembilan, is the lucky winner of RM1 million (S$386k) cash from Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN)'s Premium Savings Certificate (SSP) special draw.

Rokeah Mohd Sidek, who has been saving with the bank for 23 years under the SSP, with savings of over RM20,000, was picked as the winner during the draw, held at Tropicana City Mall, here, yesterday.

BSN Islamic Banking Department senior vice-president Mohd Sofi Mat Jahaya said the annual lucky draw, which was started in 1978, had received overwhelming support from the public.

"With this annual draw, we have been able to attract more and more savers each year."

This year alone, he said, the bank garnered over RM500 million worth of savings under the SSP programme, meeting the bank's yearly target for this year.

"We have now set next year's target at RM700 million, to achieve a total savings of RM3.2 billion for the bank."

He said BSN has also attracted many Chinese and Indian customers to save with the bank through its contest.

"The bank, which is popular predominantly among Malays, now has more non-Malay customers through the effectiveness of the annual draw."

Rokeah will receive her cash prize during the official prize give-away, to be held on Jan 26 in Kuantan Parade, Pahang.

A total of 44,000 winners, including Rokeah, won 44,573 prizes worth RM16 million yesterday.

Among the prizes were a BMW, a Proton Preve 1.6, a Perodua Viva, several Modenas motorcycles, and the latest iPads and iPhones.

With such overwhelming support from the public, Sofi said BSN was set to introduce new categories of draws for the 2014 contest.

"There will be a loyalty draw for customers with more than 10 years of saving with BSN and a special corporate draw for our corporate customers.

"The total value of the prizes will reach over RM18 million. We will also give away a brand new luxury condominium in Kuala Lumpur, worth RM1.4 million, for the SSP special draw winner next year."

The SSP draw presently has only three draw categories: special, monthly and local.