SOME of the city’s poorest residents gathered in Sen Sok district Monday for the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to win a brand-new home.

But in the end, only half of the 160 families present would be awarded a place in a 1-hectare housing project on the outskirts of the city, as part of a “lucky draw” for low-income residents.

Pok Maly, 75, was one of the fortunate winners.

“I’m very happy,” she said, after learning her family had won a place in the complex, a housing initiative of King Norodom Sihamoni and the Phnom Penh Municipality. “I want to live in the newly built house as soon as possible.”

She currently lives in a rented home with her husband, who is paraplegic, and three children.