The winning daughter, who is a mother of three, said she was so thankful to start the new year with some good luck after leaving the problems of 2021 behind.

She recalled bursting into tears of joy once she realised she scratched the top prize.

"Once a week, mum and I like to treat ourselves to some Instant Scratch-Its tickets ... My mum had brought me some home from work, and we decided to scratch them," she said.

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"My mum was so excited for me."

She plans to save the prize money, which could hopefully go towards a new car in the future.

"I haven't done any celebrating as of yet, but I'll definitely do something special in the future," she said.

The winning ticket was purchased at newsXpress George Town. Owner Sue Sherrif said her team was very excited to have sold a winning Instant Scratch-Its ticket to a regular customer.

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"It's very rewarding for the whole team when we sell a top-prize winning Instant Scratch-Its ticket to a loyal and regular customer. We love it," she said.

"We actually sold a $24K Gold Instant Scratch-Its ticket that won $500 about four weeks ago. It's wonderful to see the winning streak continue."

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