S'porean mum of 5 nearly misses S$30,000 Sheng Siong prize after mistaking the call for a scam

Siti Hajar Ramli, 41, had been so inundated with spam calls the week she won S$30,000 that she almost didn't pick up the phone.

The stay-at-home mum of five children aged between four and 16, and a home-based business owner, was in the middle of preparing a meal when a call came in from an unknown number.

The caller introduced herself as Miss Lee from Sheng Siong, telling her she had won a prize in the supermarket chain's annual Selamat Hari Raya lucky draw.

Siti assumed it was the same S$100 Sheng Siong vouchers she had won back in 2017.

“Oh madam you didn't watch the live show on Suria? You won the scecond prize of S$30,000," she recalled what Lee told her.

She was speechless, but still not convinced.

Lee suggested she look up the number on Google, which turned out to be Sheng Siong's headquarters.

Lee also verified Siti's address and the last four digits of her identification number, which helped ease her suspicions.

Even so, she said she wanted to see the official winning letter before fully believing it.

"[At the] back of my mind, it still feels like a dream because I wanted to see the letter first," she said.

A daughter's prayer

What made the win even more meaningful was how the entry had come about.

Siti's fourth child, 10, had helped her fill in the lucky draw form, which required participants to key in receipt numbers from their purchases at Sheng Siong.

That night, while filling in the form together, her daughter invited her to pray together for good fortune.

Husband thought it was vouchers

After her call with Lee, Siti immediately called her husband, who was at work.

"When I told him about my winning, he was flabbergasted," she said.

He assumed it was vouchers and told her she could use them to buy cooking ingredients.

She had to clarify that it was not vouchers but a cash prize of S$30,000.

"He was shocked cause he didn't think much of it," she said.

What the money means for the family

Siti has been a stay-at-home mum since 2015 and started her home-based food business in 2017, after a friend asked her to cook a dish called sabsuka.

Her husband is the family's sole breadwinner.

She said the winnings would go towards easing his financial load and building savings for the family's future.

Among her five children, her eldest was born with Down syndrome and requires ongoing medical care and attention.

She told Mothership that eventually, she was convinced that the lucky draw was real as she had won S$100 in vouchers from the same supermarket chain in 2017, and a Corelle set in 2023.

About the lucky draw

According to Berita Harian, Sheng Siong's annual Selamat Hari Raya lucky draw ran from Feb. 20 to Apr. 16, 2026, offering a total of S$400,000 in cash and prizes.

Siti took home the second prize of S$30,000.

The first prize of S$50,000 went to Koh Joo Leng, while the third prize of S$20,000 was won by Oh Siew Choon.

The draw also offered 20 consolation prizes of S$1,000 each and 1,000 Corelle dinnerware sets.

Speaking to Mothership, a Sheng Siong spokesperson said:

"Customers who suspect that they may have received a scam call can contact our HQ at 6895 1888 or email us at [email protected] for verification. Our team will be happy to assist."