Dubai: The first winner of the Dh1 million UAE Lottery prize is an Indian expat named Peer Muhammad Azam.
In an exclusive interview to Gulf News, the 41 year old, who works as a senior electrician with a public utility company in Dubai, said, “I entered the last draw with a group of 20 friends. We decided to buy tickets together for a chance to win. This is the first time I played in The UAE Lottery – and got lucky.”
Asked what he based his selection of numbers on, he said, “My friends and I talked about playing and trying our luck. So, we collectively put in money to buy 20 tickets, and I selected the numbers for each ticket under my account in The UAE Lottery. One of the ticket numbers matched the winning numbers and we got very lucky. We plan to split the Dh1 million by 20 and share the prize.”
He said, “I was literally speechless when I found out that we had won; I still can’t believe it. I am so happy.”
What does he plan to do with the prize money? “I can do better things for my family and my friends. I will give away a portion to charity, but I still need to decide on what I plan to do with the prize money.”
He said, “The fact that the UAE Lottery is licensed and regulated gives me the comfort of knowing that its safe, and I can enjoy the games a lot more this way. I will try my luck again. If I win the the Dh100 million Jackpot, I will be on Cloud 9. I think next time, maybe, I will win the jackpot.”
He had a word of advice to all players: “Be responsible while playing the games; keep your budget in mind and do not cross the limits. I think everyone should try their luck. You never know when it’s your chance. So, if you don’t try, you won’t know. Keep trying, maybe one day you will get lucky.”
Source: Gulf News
