Changi Airport crowns 52-year-old Irish woman as its newest millionaire

Changi Airport crowned a 52-year-old Irish woman the winner of its “Be a Changi Millionaire” draw held at Terminal 3 last month. Linda Tobin beat six other finalists — three Singaporeans, one Indonesian, one Malaysian and one Briton — to take home the grand prize of S$1 million (US$700,000).

The seven finalists competed on-stage in front of a live audience. After three rounds of heart-stopping games and elimination rounds, it was down to Briton Tracey Tomlinson, and Tobin. In the final round, both took turns to pick the correct half of a giant boarding pass, hoping to match the other half on stage. After several tries, Tobin picked the number ‘3’, which turned out to be the correct match.

Three seemed to be Tobin’s lucky number. Besides being the number of the winning boarding pass, she was also the third finalist in the monthly Millionaire draws and it was her third trip to Changi Airport.

Tobin qualified for the grand draw after buying a bottle of whisky for her brother at Changi Airport’s DFS store last July.

When asked about how she felt with her win and what her plans for the S$1 million are, an ecstatic Tobin gushed: “I feel on top of the world! I would spend the money helping out my family, and buy myself a house with a kitchen garden, which has always been my dream. I like growing things but I do not have the room to do it now. And I might treat myself to a nice car. My niece is definitely going to get a very special treat from me, since she helped to pick the lucky number ‘3’!”

Continued traction of  ‘Be a Changi Millionaire’ shopping promotion

The promotion which comes with a grand prize of S$1 million in cash — the biggest cash prize to be given in a local retail promotion, or by any airport in the world — continues to be very popular among shoppers. The 2015 edition attracted nearly two million lucky draw entries from 229 nationalities globally. The top three groups were Singaporeans, Chinese nationals and Indonesians, with Singaporeans making up over one-in-three of the participants.

More than 333,000 instant prizes were also given away to lucky shoppers. The instant prizes included a set of six exclusive premiums by local designers Wang Shijia and Jo Soh, which were specially commissioned to celebrate Singapore’s Golden Jubilee last year.

In addition to the six monthly finalists, for the first time in the game’s history, one more shopper was picked from those who shopped on Changi’s online retail portal, iShopChangi.com.

Lim Peck Hoon, executive vice-president of Commercial at Changi Airport Group (CAG), said: “We congratulate our sixth Changi Millionaire and thank our passengers and customers for their patronage this past year. We are delighted to achieve yet another record high for concession sales at Changi Airport in 2015. This is positive for the Singapore air hub as profits from our retail business help to offset the cost of our aeronautical operations.”

She continued: “In 2015, we continued to execute a successful commercial strategy, which saw the introduction of innovative concepts evident in our liquor and beauty duplex stores and the launch of many first-in-Changi brands. At the same time, exciting promotions such as the Star Wars plushies during the holiday period and Changi Millionaire have contributed to the retail buzz and made shopping that more fun and rewarding at Changi.”

Since the launch of “Be a Changi Millionaire” in 2010, CAG has made five lucky shoppers at Changi Airport overnight millionaires at its annual Grand Draw.

To participate in the Millionaire Draw, passengers and visitors simply need to shop or dine at Changi Airport, with a minimum spend of just S$30 in a single receipt. Purchases made in both the public and transit areas of Changi Airport were eligible for the draw. Travellers who shop on iShopChangi got up to 10 times more chances of being picked as a finalist.

Apart from Tobin, the other finalists won S$5,000 in cash. They also received a three-night stay at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, with airfare provided for non-Singapore participants.

The seventh run of the Be a Changi Millionaire Draw will kick off in May this year.