Dubai: Saeed Ahmad from Pakistan believes that all his four children are his lucky charms. “Since my first child was born, plenty of good things have been coming my way,” he said. “After 15 years of participating in DSF [Dubai Shopping Festival] draws, my six-year-old son Daud Saeed brought home 1kg of gold.”
Ahmad is not the only parent who considers his children to be a lucky charm. Thousands of parents participate in DSF raffles every year by entering their children’s names on coupons hoping that Dame Luck will be more partial to the innocence of children and favour them with a bounty.
Every year, among the myriad exciting offers that DSF brings, the lucky draws or DSF raffles are a huge attraction for visitors and tourists alike. Many a time, a DSF winning coupon has been a life-altering event for a family, as its fortunes take an upswing and its dreams and aspirations bear fruit thanks to a sudden windfall.
Ahmad, an interior designer, said he wishes to keep the prize amount to fund his son’s education in later years. “Their innocence is what attracts good luck,” he said. “I’ve seen that happen over the years, and every time I now try my luck with DSF, I make sure to write their names [on the coupons].”
Similarly, Hussain Abdul Rab Saleh Al Yafei from Yemen said his family believes the youngest child in the family can bring them luck. “The youngest child is always special and the most pampered. When we chose to fill in the coupon under Saif Hussain’s name, we felt optimistic about winning [the prize],” said the Abu Dhabi resident, who has been living in the UAE for 28 years and has seven children.
Al Yafei’s 5-year-old son was announced as the winner of 1kg of gold last year. “We’ve always participated in DSF draws, but last year time it was God’s will [that we won].”
Al Yafei, a civil defence employee, wants to save the prize money to pay for Saif’s higher education. “Saif keeps asking me, ‘Where’s my gold?’ but I have to keep it for him, as its required to fund his education.”
Other parents like Sampath Ukwaththa, from Sri Lanka, believe children are spiritually pure and have no mercenary expectations as do adults and hence are more likely to be favoured by luck. His seven-year old daughter, Gayaraa Ukwaththa, won a quarter kilo of gold last week in the DSF raffle.
“Adults have plenty of expectations and end up disappointed [if they don’t win]. But for children, winning gold doesn’t mean anything to them at their age, and that’s perhaps why they get lucky,” said Ukwaththa, a father of two, who too wants to save the prize money for his child’s education.
An Indian mother, whose seven-year-old daughter Eva won a kilo of gold in DSF said parents like to use their children’s names in raffle coupons because they feel God loves children more.
“Children are a priority in everything. When [parents] want to eat, they feed them first and when they want to do anything in life, they think about their children first,” she said. “It’s the same when filling coupons, we think about their future and want everything [that’s good] for them,” she said.
Over the past two decades, DSF has changed the lives of thousands of shoppers and visitors for the better through its prizes and raffle draws, which amount up to almost Dh2 billion collectively since its inception.
This DSF edition, participating outlets with Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group are giving one coupon for the purchase of gold jewellery worth Dh500 and two coupons for diamond or pearl jewellery purchases worth Dh500, to be able to enter in daily draws. Three winners will be announced every day.
Timeline
Children who won DSF raffles
January 2016: Eva Joshy, 7, Indian, wins a 1kg gold.
January: Gayaraa Ukwaththa, Sri Lankan, wins a 1kg gold.
January 4, 2015: Nithera, a newborn girl, wins 1kg gold.
January 15, 2014: Dyuthi Shiju, 9 months old, wins 1kg gold.
January 26, 2013: Mohammad Marzouq Al Matroushi, 13, Emirati, wins a Nissan 370Z sports coupe.
January 5: Madhup Roshan, 10, Indian, wins two cars and Dh100,000 cash in the DSF Infiniti Mega Raffle.
January 25, 2011: Jase Elma Mathew, 4, wins half a kilogram of gold in the ‘Bag of Fortune’ campaign.
March 12, 2010: A three-and-a-half year old Emirati boy Saeed Adel Mohammad wins a Nissan Altima in the weekly draw of the Nissan Grand Raffle.
February 2: Inu Mon, six months, wins the Lexus LX 570 encrusted with five carat diamonds in the Lexus Mega Raffle.
February 15, 2008: Mohit Himthani, 10, Indian, wins Dh5 million in the Mashreq Millionaire raffle.
February 13, 2005: Shakiba Asif, 10, Indian, wins the world’s largest gold raffle of 100kg gold.
January 15: Mohammad, 3, wins half a kilogram of gold in DSF Commemorative Gold Coin promotion.
March 5, 2002: Maryam Abed Al Aziz, 8, Emirati, wins the Nissan Patrol-A- Day promotion.
March 23, 2001: Bassem Medhat Talaat Shoukry, 5, Egyptian, wins the three-in-one prize of two Lexus cars and Dh100,000 in the daily Lexus Mega Raffle draw.
March 22: Baher Weis Al Baher, 10, Syrian, wins the three-in-one prize of two Lexus cars and Dh100,000 in the daily Lexus Mega Raffle draw.
March 17: Russian girl, 5, wins Dh150,000 in the Enoc/Eppco Winner of Winners.
March 15: Two-and-a-half Roshan Antony, Indian, wins two Lexus cars and Dh100,000 in the Lexus Mega Raffle.
March 15: Noor Hadi, 7, Kuwaiti, wins the daily Win-the-World prize, a holiday in nine cities in the raffle during.
March 11: Four-year-old Saudi girl Abla Salama wins the Dh100,000 prize in the Emirates National Oil Company Group’s Winner of Winners in raffle.
March 3: Shahid Hadi Farhan Al Dhaferi, 10, Saudi, wins two Lexus cars and Dh100,000 in the Lexus Mega Raffle.
March 18, 2000: Hussain Abdullah El Zein, 6, Lebanese, wins the Nissan Patrol-A-Day Raffle.
March 10: A 14-year-old Emirati boy win a Rolls Royce Silver Seraph in the Rolls-Royce Raffle.
March 3: Waheeb Mufid Saleem, 7, Syrian, wins a Rolls Royce Silver Seraph in the Rolls-Royce Raffle.
March 2: Sarah Al Shamsi, 11, Egyptian, wins the Nissan Patrol-A-Day raffle.
March 31, 1999: Abdul Rahman Naji Fahd Al Qareen, 3, Saudi, wins the Nissan Patrol-A-Day raffle.
March 21, 1998: Rishabh Kabra, 5, Indian, wins the Lexus GS300 raffle.
March 19: Sreejith Uttattil, 15, Indian, wins the Lexus GS300 raffle.
March 15, 1998: Waheeb Mufid Saleem, 5, Syrian, wins the Lexus GS300 raffle.
March 28, 1997: Asif Khan, 6, Pakistani, wins the 1kg gold in raffle.
— Compiled by Gulf News Archives
