03/09/2026

THURSDAY | SEPT 3, 2026

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Chauffeur wins RM23 million jackpot

Ű BY ANDREW SAGAYAM newsdesk@thesundaily.com

excitement. My wife and I were overwhelmed with happiness and gratitude,” he said when he came to collect his Sports Toto jackpot winnings at STM Lottery’s head office in Berjaya Times Square yesterday. Accompanied by his daughter to collect his winnings, she said her father had always promised that if he ever won a lottery jackpot, he would use the money to help settle outstanding loans and debts of every family member. “My father said he definitely would settle the debts of all our family members. He also intend to save the balance for his retirement.”

grandchild this year. To me, I believe that my latest grandchild is the one who gave me luck and delivered this unexpected wealth to me. “When I saw the numbers while I was having dinner, I immediately stopped eating and asked my daughter to check the result for me. She quickly referred the Sports Toto app to verify the ticket,” he recalled. He said moments later, after scanning the ticket through the app, she confirmed that the ticket was indeed the jackpot-winning ticket worth RM23,945,954.40. “Of course, our reaction was of immediate joy. The entire family erupted with laughter and

Sembilan when he was spending the weekend at his daughter’s house. “My winning set of numbers, 3, 5, 6, 10, 20 and 42, carry a very special meaning to me,” he shared. The number three represents his three children, the number five represents the five members of his immediate family, the number six represents his six grandchildren, the number 10 and 20 correspond to his wedding date, Oct 20, and the last number 42 represents the years he has been married. “I had to change one of the numbers in my betting ticket to six when I got my sixth

KUALA LUMPUR: A 66-year-old chauffeur from Kuala Lumpur has won the RM23.95 million Supreme Sports Toto 6/58 Jackpot by betting on a series of family-inspired numbers. The veteran driver, who has been a regular Sports Toto punter for the past 10 years, revealed that he has been playing with the same set of numbers for many years with slight “yearly updates”. He said on Aug 29, he had purchased his Sports Toto 6/58 Jackpot ticket in Negeri

‘Funds for rural roads not withheld’

o Payment delays caused by repeated commitments and expenditures beyond approved budgets: Treasury

Development Ministry. He called on Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to explain claims that almost RM1 billion in funds allocated and approved for the ministry had yet to be channelled. “Are you saying the government no longer has enough money, or is there another agenda behind this budget not being given to the ministry?” he said in a Facebook video on Tuesday. He also said contractors had approached him almost daily over unpaid work, adding that prolonged delays could push some to the brink of bankruptcy or expose them to legal action. The Finance Ministry’s response, however, placed the immediate funding pressure on the Rural and Regional Development Ministry’s spending commitments rather than any restriction by the Treasury, while the additional RM300 million is intended to help clear the payment backlog.

current priorities. The Treasury was also identifying savings from other ministries to help offset the Rural and Regional Development Ministry’s commitments beyond its approved allocation, he said. The clarification came after Deputy Prime Minister and Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi raised concerns over delayed payments to contractors who had completed work and met the required contractual progress. Zahid said such delays could affect not only contractors, but also suppliers, subcontractors, workers and service providers, with wider implications for the local economy. Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh meanwhile questioned whether the government was facing financial constraints or whether there was another reason behind the alleged delay in channelling funds to the Rural and Regional

conservation process and the long-standing cultural ties between Malaysia and the United States, he said. Meanwhile, US Educational and Cultural Affairs Assistant Secretary of State Cate Dillon said the conservation initiative of the national monument would strengthen the 69-year-old diplomatic ties between the United States and Malaysia, particularly in the areas of education and culture. She said the US$250,000 grant from the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, in conjunction with the US Freedom 250th anniversary celebrations, aims to preserve the monument ahead of Malaysia’s 70th anniversary of independence. “Tugu Negara was sculpted by an American artist, Tan Sri Felix de Weldon, who also sculpted the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. “The United States is proud to launch this partnership with Malaysia to preserve our shared heritage and help make sure Tugu Negara would continue to stand for generations to come,” she said at the launch, which was attended by US Embassy in Malaysia Chargé d’Affaires David H. Gamble Jr. According to Dillon, through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, the partnership would facilitate the exchange of vital expertise between the countries’ historical conservation leaders. The conservation project addresses critical needs resulting from six decades of tropical weathering, among other factors. Conservation specialists from the US National Park Service would work closely with university conservators and the National Heritage Department to stabilise the sculpture, repair Development Ministry had nearly exhausted its allocation for the current year after repeatedly making commitments and spending beyond its approved budgets. As of June, it had spent RM1.9 billion of its RM2.1 billion allocation for rural road projects this year. Its spending had also exceeded approved allocations in other years, with RM1.8 billion spent against RM1.1 billion allocated in 2023, RM2 billion against RM1.3 billion in 2024 and RM2.3 billion against RM1.6 billion in 2025. “For several years, the ministry has made commitments and spent more than the annual allocations approved for rural road projects,” said Johan in a statement yesterday. He highlighted that the Finance Ministry had approved an additional RM300 million this year to help settle outstanding payments to contractors, while working with the Rural and Regional Development Ministry to reprioritise and rearrange its allocation according to

Ű BY THESUN TEAM newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA: The Finance Ministry has denied withholding or restricting funds allocated to the Rural and Regional Development Ministry for rural road projects, saying all approved allocations have been fully channelled. Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Johan Mahmood Merican said payment delays arose because the Rural and Regional

Tugu Negara conservation to begin next week PUTRAJAYA: Conservation work on Tugu Negara, the world’s tallest freestanding grouping of bronze sculptures, is expected to start next week and is scheduled to be completed before Aug 31, 2027, according to Universiti Malaysia Kelantan. Its vice-chancellor Datuk Prof Dr

Arham Abdullah said the university would serve primarily as a research and knowledge partner in the project. “Our role focuses on documentation, research and knowledge transfer, particularly in relation to conservation and restoration techniques,” he noted. “We want to ensure the expertise shared by US conservation specialists will not remain within the project alone, but would also be transferred to our academics and students. “The project would provide opportunities for workshops, public knowledge-sharing sessions, academic visits and scholarly publications,” he said during the launch of the US-supported US$250,000 (about RM1.1 million) Tugu Negara conservation initiative here on Tuesday. The university is providing hands-on technical training to more than 50 Malaysian conservation students as well as heritage professionals to build long-term local capacity for monument stewardship. Arham said the initiative provides Malaysian scholars and students with invaluable technical experience, ensuring Malaysia possesses the internal expertise required to preserve its national heritage treasures for generations to come. The project would incorporate a series of public engagement initiatives, including exhibitions, educational materials, public workshops and a documentary showcasing the

Dillon said the conservation initiative of the national monument would strengthen the 69-year-old diplomatic ties between the United States and Malaysia, particularly in the areas of education and culture. – SYED AZAHAR SYED OSMAN/THESUN

similar monument in Kuala Lumpur to honour the servicemen who gave their lives during World War II and the Malayan Emergency. He commissioned renowned American sculptor Felix de Weldon, the master behind the Marine Corps War Memorial, to design the monument, which was completed and dedicated 60 years ago, in 1966. – Bernama

structural seams and apply specialised protective patination. Tugu Negara’s origins can be traced back to 1960, during an official state visit to Washington, DC, by Malaysia’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman. Deeply moved by the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, he envisioned a