Dubai: A hundred lucky Gulf News subscribers — many of whom are long-time subscribers — won jewellery vouchers on Thursday as part of the Gulf News Subscription Campaign.
The subscribers’ names were drawn in a raffle at the Gulf News head office by a Dubai Economy representative on Tuesday. The winners were each given Dh1,000 Diamond Jewellery Voucher from Joy Alukkas on Thursday in the presence of Amitava Banerjee and Partha Mazumder, both Territory Managers at GN Distribution.
Some 400 new and renewing subscribers have a chance to win the same jewellery vouchers in March, April, and May.
All renewing subscribers and new subscribers by May 12 stand a chance to drive home a brand new sports car, BMW 520i M, on May 17.
One of the winners on Thursday said this is not her first time to win in a Gulf News raffle, and maybe not her last, too.
“I’m lucky with Gulf News because this is my second time to win. Once is a fluke but to win a second time, I think I should continue,” Jessy Mathew, an Indian homemaker in Dubai, said.
A subscriber of Gulf News for 15 years, Mathew said her first win was a Dh25,000 Home Centre voucher in a Gulf News subscription campaign some years back. “The voucher today is a downgrade actually but there’s still a chance for me to win a BMW in May,” she said.
Another winner, Rahman Ali, an Indian civil engineer, also hopes to win the sports car but he said he is grateful for the jewellery voucher. The Indian civil engineer has been a Gulf News subscriber for the past 28 years.
“Gulf News has become a part of our life. My morning will not be complete without having read Gulf News first. Among all the newspapers in the UAE, Gulf News is the best one, really,” Ali said.
“Whenever the paper comes, my kids grab it and answer the puzzle right away. My wife usually reads tabloid! I love the special coverage for big news, world news and also for my community, that’s what I like about it. So when my wife once told me to subscribe to another newspaper, I said no,” he added.
Ali said he will give the voucher as a present to his wife who will be celebrating her birthday next month.
Michelle Reni, another lucky subscriber, plans to give the voucher to her daughter who recently graduated.
“This is my first time to win anything. My daughter just had her graduation yesterday so I’ll get her something,” said the Indian resident who has been a Gulf News subscriber since the 1980s.
Narasimha Rao, a pharmacist from India, said it was also his first time to win in a raffle. He will be giving the voucher to one of his daughters as well. “It’s my first time to win anything in my lifetime. I have been in this country for the last 24 years but I have never won anything in spite of participating in everything. This is something which motivates me. Who knows when we’re gonna be lucky.”
For just a subscription of Dh420 (VAT inclusive) for one year, subscribers not only get their go-to news source at their doorstep every day, but also shopping vouchers from Home Centre (Dh100), Centre Point (Dh100), Aster Pharmacy (Dh100), Souq.com (Dh100) and Emirates NBD (Dh300 on new cards).
