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Most of us enter a supermarket with a shopping list, but one Malaysian man has regularly visited his local AEON supermarket with a set number in mind: RM42
Over several visits to AEON, Threads user @akmalredzwan has been trying to keep every bill at RM42 or slightly above.
His purchases include typical household goods like laundry detergent, cooking oil, groceries, drinks, and snacks for his home and office.
View on Threads
But what caught people's attention was how closely each total landed to the same RM42 figure
His first haul, which consisted mainly of laundry products, came to RM42.90. The next time, he bought snacks for his home and office and finished with a bill of RM42.70.
The first haul gave hoarder vibes (who needs that much detergent?), and the second had people wondering if he was on a stress-eating binge, but both consistently placed close to RM42 in value. Strange.
Next came an RM42.95 trip for ingredients to make bakwan jagung, along with a packet of instant teh tarik.
This time, he decided to give his shopping cart the influencer treatment with a flatlay, but amped up people's curiosity with another receipt close to RM42.
At this point, everyone was crying out for an explanation. What is he up to, and was the effort worth it for bakwan jagung?
While hitting RM42 turned out to require more calculation than expected, there was a good reason for his efforts
After sharing several shopping trips, Akmal finally explained the motive behind his RM42 habit. FINALLY!
He was collecting entries for a chance to win flight tickets to Japan!
"I've actually been trying my luck at AEON's contest. With every minimum spend of RM42 in a single receipt, I get a chance to win a trip to Japan, weh!" he wrote.
He then revealed that the contest is part of AEON's 42nd anniversary celebrations, which rewards one lucky winner with a grand prize of a pair of flight tickets to Tokyo, Japan, as well consolation prizes that include 41 Batik Air flight tickets to other destinations and 1,000 units of Zootopia 2 cabin luggage bags.
Akmal said the items he purchased were things he genuinely needed, but the contest gave him a reason to split them across multiple visits and collect more qualifying receipts.
He even admitted that he had become unusually committed to the mission despite not having any guarantee of winning (and now we don't really blame him).
"I haven't even won yet, but it looks like I couldn't even wait to post on Threads. Am I the only one excited to win?" he wrote.
After checking the details for ourselves, we discovered that AEON had other rewards in store during its 42nd Anniversary celebrations
In addition to the prizes listed above, AEON is also hosting AEON VIP Day celebrations on 3, 10, 17, and 24 October!
During these dates, you can get an RM5 e-voucher with every RM100 spent in a single receipt at selected AEON Supermarkets, as well as an RM10 voucher with every RM100 spent in a single receipt at AEON General Merchandise Department (GMS).
AEON's Spend & Win Contest runs from 1 September to 31 October 2026. More information can be found here.
