The persistence of sending in more than 100 purchase receipts in the 'Jom Minta Resit GST' competition finally paid off for Low Shiau Peng, 31, one of 130 people from Melaka who won a Samsung Galaxy
S7 Edge.

Low, an accountant at a private company in Ayer Keroh said she waited for the results of the draw for about two months, and was delighted when she received a call saying she was one of the lucky winners.

"I had kept more than a hundred purchase receipts from supermarkets and shops for this competition. It was worth it," Low told reporters after the winners were announced in Ayer Keroh, Saturday.

Melaka Customs Department director Datuk Syed Mohri Syed Abu Bakar presented the prizes to 20 winners yesterday, while the rest have been requested to redeem them from the Customs office from June 27 to July 18.

Syed Mohri said for the first draw, 130 winners out of 13,069 participants nationwide were from Melaka, and this was a very encouraging response which showed that the people in the state were more aware of their rights as consumers by requesting for a receipt each time they made a purchase.

Meanwhile, in NEGERI SEMBILAN, State Customs Department director Abdullah Jaapar said the lucky draw competition was aimed at making consumers aware of the importance of requesting for and keeping GST receipts.

"This will increase the compliance level of traders and businessmen on issuing GST receipts as per the requirements under Section 33, 34, and 35 of the Goods and Services Tax Act 2014," he said after the prize giving ceremony of winners in Negeri Sembilan for the months of April and May, in Senawang.

He said consumers should be aware of their rights, and if they had doubts over any of the receipts issued, they could refer to the Customs office so that further action could be taken.

Abdullah said the department received entries from 4,000 participants in the state, and 90 of them had won various prizes offered in the draw.

In TERENGGANU, State Customs Department director Abdullah Jaapar said he was statisfied with the number of traders registered for the GST in the state since it was introduced in April 2015.

He said currently, 7,000 businesses were registered in the state, and this was a marked improvement over the 4,000 registered previously.

According to him, the department found that the number of complaints regarding GST in the state had reduced drastically in the first six months of this year, and this showed the effectiveness of the implementation and the good cooperation from traders.

"This achievement is due to the continued efforts of the Customs Department and other agencies to persuade and advise traders to voluntarily register their businesses with GST," he told reporters after handing over prizes to 83 winners at the Dewan Mayang Bestari, Wisma Kastam Terengganu, Saturday..

A total of 2,876 participants nationwide received prizes in the draw this time.

Meanwhile, in PERLIS, Padang Besar Customs chief YM Raja Badri Shah Raja Azman said the department was not happy with the lackluster response for the 'Jom Minta Resit GST' competition in the state, which received only 700 receipt entries.

"Generally, the Customs is not satisfied with the participation, considering the fact there are 1,670 premises registered with GST in the state, by right the number of receipts received should be at least more than the number of registered premises," he said in a press conference after the prize giving ceremony in Kangar, yesterday.

He said cooperation from all parties was needed to strengthen the implementation of GST, and the competition was one of the efforts by the department to increase awareness among consumers.

"We want to discipline the traders, and provide awareness to and protect consumers from being cheated and burdened with hiked up prices by unscrupulous traders," he said.

Raja Badri Shah said the department would also increase its efforts to encourage consumers to enter the competition at supermarkets and shopping outlets in the state.

The competition which is open to those 18 and above, with unlimited entries allowed, will take place until November this year, and the public can download the 'MyResitGST' app via the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to participate.