Dubai: It took a while for French expat Nassim Haider to feel assured that the call he received on Tuesday morning was genuine — that he had just won Dh1 million in the Gulf News Mega Subscription 2013 promotions.
Haider even called back the newspaper’s Dubai head office to inquire if there had been a mix up, or if the windfall would be clawed back for some reason or another.
“Is it going to change?” he asked half-jokingly.
With the news starting to sink in, he called his wife, Saira Menon, who was also in disbelief. Busy at work too, she had initially requested he call back later.
“I thought it could be a hoax or scam. But after re-checking and following up, we started to feel ‘wow, this is really happening!’” Menon said.
Haider, who was born in Karachi and raised in Paris, said he has never won a raffle before. The father-of-two works for an oil and gas company as a financial and accounting professional.
“My younger daughter, Aria, fills out every form and voucher we get. I used to say: ‘Why bother? We never win anything.’ And I wasn’t really expecting to win Dh1 million in the Gulf News promotion when I subscribed.
“But it has started sinking in, my youngest daughter has only just found out. My older one, Anaika, is studying in the UK. The next step is: what to do with the money,” Haider told Gulf News during an interview at his Dubai residence on Tuesday.
“I want to give something to everyone in the family. My wife’s birthday was in January and I still need to buy her a gift. Some of the prize will go towards my bank loan repayment. And the rest? I don’t know yet, we’ll see.”
Menon added: “This is a huge impact. We’re very grateful for it. We’re not going to give up our jobs or anything like that. Our intention is to share with other people.”
The couple has been living in Dubai since 2000.
Haider said he is glad he subscribed to Gulf News, and not just because he ended up winning big.
“I read the paper every day. On the weekends, I get up early before anyone else and read it cover to cover. I like the new compact format, it makes good use of different sections — you can pull them out and hand them over to your wife or kids while you read what you like,” he added.
The Gulf News Mega Subscription is an annual promotion giving subscribers a chance to win a variety of prizes, including the Dh1,000,000 award for one subscriber.
Ten others each won a Mitsubishi Pajero four-wheel drive and another ten each won Dh10,000 worth of gold as part of the offers. Click here to subscribe to Gulf News
