[color=#666666]The Star, Wednesday February 14, 2007
Reports by MERGAWATI ZULKAFAR[/color]

PUTRAJAYA: Offering lucky draw prizes to encourage Malaysians to change to the MyKad is “silly and rubbish,” Home Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said.

Citing this, Radzi yesterday announced that the Perodua MyVi, Suzuki Scooter, and electrical items offered in the Jom Tukar dan Menang (Let’s Change and Win) lucky draw 18 months ago was being officially withdrawn.

“It is the duty of all Malaysians to get their MyKad. It is their responsibility without having any carrot offered to them. This is a national card, your citizenship card.

“Forget about the MyVi. We will donate all items to orphanages. I don’t agree with the draw,” he said after the ministry’s monthly gathering here yesterday.

The then Home Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid announced the Finance Ministry-sanctioned lucky draw in August 2005 to get some two million Malaysians to change their identity cards to MyKad before Dec 31 that year.

The draw was also open to 16 million MyKad holders.

Three lucky draws were supposed to be held in September, November and December that year offering a total of 80 prizes each. The RM50,000 Perodua MyVi was to be the grand prize.

To questions by reporters whether it was appropriate to withdraw the lucky draw now, Radzi replied: “That was the former minister. Now I am saying, get rid of this mentality that Malaysians need to be offered something just to change to MyKad.

“Come on, this is just a MyVi. We are not offering a Mercedes-Benz or a Rolls Royce.

“We don’t live in a world where you must have lucky draws, then people will come. That is rubbish.”

National Registration Department director-general Datuk Abdul Halim Mohamad, who was also at the press conference, said two of the draws had been conducted thus far.

He, however, declined to elaborate on the matter and also did not say if the prizes had been distributed.

source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/2/14/nation/16869162&sec=nation