What will be the first thing that comes to your mind if you get a call saying you have a one in six chance of winning One Million Dollars at the Changi Millionaire Draw? My first thought will be “Is this one of those congrats-you-won-something-now-pay-me-service-fees scam?!”

That was what Ms Pan Lizhu Rebecca (潘丽珠) – one of the 6 Changi Millionaire finalists – thought when she received the call from Changi Airport in July 2012. Her friends even advised her to be wary if the caller followed up with a second call telling her to remit some money as transaction/service fees! Thankfully, Changi Airport Group followed up with a few more emails and calls (without any request for transaction fees of course! :-)) and here she is with us in Singapore, looking forward to the big Changi Millionaire draw tomorrow (Sunday 20 Jan 2013 2pm)!

In my previous post on shopping at Changi Airport, I promised to share with you on where the finalist had shopped and what she bought in Changi Airport so you can try your luck at the “lucky” outlet for your chance at being one of the Changi Millionaire finalist next year! PassportChop.com had the opportunity to chat with Ms Pan this morning – read on to find out more!

Ms Pan is an engineer with an American multinational company. She is staying in Shanghai, China and was here in Singapore during June 2012 for a two-day business trip. You will be amazed at her luck and the series of event that eventually landed her as one of the Changi Millionaire finalists!

She was asked by her friends to buy 2 iPads (the new iPad 16 GB) during her business trip in Singapore and had intended to buy upon arrival but the store ran out of stock for the 16 GB iPad. She then decided to postpone her purchase until after her business trip. After a few phone calls back to China, a decision was made to buy the 64 GB version of the new iPad instead. Before boarding her Singapore Airlines flight back to Shanghai, Ms Pan purchases 2 sets of the new iPad (64 GB with Wi-Fi) for S$1,700 at the iStudio store at Terminal 3’s Departure Transit Mall.

She then proceeded to the Changi Millionaire Game Station like thousands of other Changi Millionaire hopefuls to input her personal details and scan her receipt to register for the Instant Draw and Changi Millionaire Draw. But unlike many many others at the Changi Millionaire Game Stations, her experience was a completely different one…

We have all seen our fair share of “Thank You Try Again”s when we scan our receipts at the Changi Millionaire Game Stations – what Ms Pan saw was that she won 5 Instant Draw prizes -> 1 Small Bag + 2 Travel Adaptors + 2 Portable Speakers! and of course, she received the call from Changi Airport Group 1 month later that she is a Changi Millionaire Finalist!

The decision to buy the two 64 GB iPads (instead 16 GB) definitely added to the number of chances she had in qualifying as a Changi Millionaire finalist (since for every S$30 spent in a single receipt on shopping or dining at Changi Airport, you get one chance at the Instant Draw prizes and qualifying as a Changi Millionaire).

The interesting part is that Ms Pan had never won prizes at company events such as Dinner & Dance and had never bought lottery tickets (before she was chosen as a Changi Millionaire finalist). After she was notified that she had been selected as a Changi Millionaire finalist, her colleagues encouraged her to try her luck at lottery and she tried with 20 dollars and won 10 dollars – not bad for a first try! 🙂

If Ms Pan wins the S$1 Million dollars, she plans to pay off her housing mortgage, upgrade her husband’s car to a SUV, take a nice holiday with her family and of course save some of the money for her child’s education. We wish Ms Pan all the best in tomorrow’s Changi Millionaire draw!

The 5 Changi Millionaire Finalists (one of the finalist was unable to attend the draw and unfortunately will be disqualified from the draw) are already winners in their own right. Just for being a finalist, they each already won at least S$5,000 in cash plus return airfare to Singapore (for non-Singapore residents) and two nights’ stay at Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel in Singapore.

For the rest of us non-finalists, there is still something to be happy about this Changi Millionaire Draw, Changi Airport Group is going all out to celebrate this joyous Changi Millionaire Draw! Come on down tomorrow at 1pm to Changi Airport Terminal 3 – the Changi Millionaire draw stage is located right at the exit of the Changi Airport MRT station (at Departure Hall Check-in Row 11 – if you are taking a cab here, just ask the taxi driver to drop you off at Terminal 3 the last door to the terminal)!

You can watch the finalists battle it out for the million-dollar prize, plus enjoy pre-show goodies – we saw some catering trays being prepared today so there will be free food at the draw area. Also free Millionaire Polaroids taken by the roving photographers. You can also win $500 Changi Dollar Vouchers when you guess the winner of the Changi Millionaire draw!

This is a not a simple i-pick-from-a-box-and-the-winner-is draw. The 5 finalists will have to compete in a series of challenges with elimination rounds and the eventual 2 finalists at the last round will open some doors and if they pick the right door – they win! So a mixture of skill and luck (mostly luck!) – making this Grand Finale very interesting!

There’s more – if you are the first 300 to register your spot at the Changi Millionaire Grand Finale, you will also receive a free Angry Birds Space plush toy!

So join us tomorrow to find out who is the next Changi Millionaire!

For more information on the Changi Millionaire draw, check out: http://millionaire.changiairport.com/