KUALA NERUS: A retired naval officer could not believe his luck when he won RM1 million in Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad's Islamic Savings Certificate (SSi) Jutawan Hebat draw.
Sajihan M.C Mohamed, 63, from Seri Manjung, Perak, is the third person to win RM1 million in the contest since it was first held in August 2023.
"Every time I visited Bank Muamalat, the staff would encourage me to save in the SSi and inform me of the benefits, which attracted me to start saving," Sajihan said, adding he first opened a savings account with the bank over 20 years ago.
However, it was only in March that the father of five started saving through the SSi.
"I was genuinely excited and did not expect to win since I only recently started saving (through the SSi). I was shocked when I was contacted last week.
"Praise be to Allah, I received the RM1 million prize. Alhamdulillah, thank you Bank Muamalat," he said after the prize presentation ceremony at the Jom Heboh Terengganu Carnival in Gong Badak here recently.
Present was Bank Muamalat president and chief executive officer, Khairul Kamarudin.
Also present were the Media Prima Omnia chief operating officer Datuk Mohd Efendi Omar and New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP) group managing editor, Datuk Ahmad Zaini Kamaruzzaman.
Sajihan encouraged the public to save in the SSi, as the same draw will be held again this December.
Meanwhile, Khairul said he was encouraged by the increase in the uptake of the SSi. Since it was introduced, 32,126 people have signed up for it.
He said this indicates a growing awareness of the importance of saving money.
This year, Bank Muamalat set aside RM5 million for the total SSi Jutawan Hebat prize money to encourage more people to continue saving.