The 28-year-old, who runs a barber shop in Marsiling, said he did not know about the draw at first, or that he qualified for it.

Concerned that a scammer would want him to make an advance payment before claiming the prize, he checked the CPF website on Monday night before he accepted the good news.

Said Mr Mohamed Asri, who said he earns just over $1,000 a month: 'I didn't believe it at first, but now I'm happy...The money will come in very handy for my wedding in November.'

He has been a regular Medisave contributor since 2002.

Like him, poultry seller Poh Siew Tuan, 67, was sceptical when she was contacted about her third-prize win of $1,000 cash on Monday as she was not aware of the draw.

'But I think the lucky draw is a good idea because it will encourage more people to save money for possible medical needs in the future,' said Madam Poh, who has a stall at a market in Tampines Street 81.

Second-prize winner Loh Poh Cheng, 49, an odd-job worker, won $2,000.

The draw was mooted by MP Seng Han Thong in Parliament in March last year as a way to attract more low-wage workers to come under the CPF umbrella and start contributing to Medisave accounts.

Such workers rarely make any contributions to their CPF - or have contributions made by their employers. But doing so would allow these workers to benefit also from the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme, which tops up the wages of workers earning $1,500 and less.

Mr Seng's idea was taken up by the Government and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the draw at last year's May Day Rally.

Draw details were announced last September: There will be three draws - in June, September and December this year. A grand draw with a $5,000 top prize is set for March next year. These lucky draws will be held for three years before the idea is reviewed.

On Monday, Mr Wu Wai Mun, the CPF Board's deputy chief executive officer (Collections and Corporate Infrastructure), picked the top three prize winners with the click of a computer button. Consolation prizes of $100 each were also awarded to 300 people.

A total of 54,700 self-employed individuals and informal workers qualified for this first draw. In all, $36,000 in cash will be handed out to winners.

A CPF Board spokesman had no immediate information on how many of the 54,700 eligible for the first draw had joined the CPF after September's announcement about the lucky draw.

During the Budget debate in March, Parliament was told that since January, some 46,900 low-wage informal workers and self-employed people had registered with the CPF Board.

That was close to one in two of the 100,000 low-wage earners who, as of early in the year, were in danger of missing out on the Workfare scheme because they had no CPF accounts.

But reactions from Mr Mohamed Asri and Madam Poh indicated that more publicity efforts might be necessary.

Madam Poh, a regular contributor since 2005, said she only believed the news when reporters called her later to ask her about her win. She has not decided what to do with her $1,000 cash prize.

The CPF Board spokesman said the draw is mentioned in publicity material for the Workfare scheme and in notification letters.

Information is also contained in posters at all 105 community centres and the five CPF Service Centres.

kianbeng@sph.com.sg