A McLaren supercar and a space trip: A week full of surprises

It was a rags-to-riches story that piqued the interest of tens of thousands of readers on the KT website and social media pages this week. Overnight, an Indian carpenter who earns just Dh2,200 a month became the owner of a supercar. After re-registering his du mobile number, Balvir Singh was floored after being told he had become the owner of a McLaren 570S Spider. Worth over Dh750,000, it would have taken Singh 28 years (going by his current earnings) to save up enough cash to treat himself to the motor.

But rather than get behind the wheel of the sleek supercar, a humble

Singh chose to sell it and send the money back home to his family instead. Although he got just Dh600,000 for the car, about Dh150,000 under market value, he was still beaming from ear to ear after his win. Garnering more than 44,400 pages views on the website, the story was also viewed via social media shares more than 23,600 times.

In other news this week, KT sat down for a chat with Sultan Al Neyadi and Hazza Al Mansoori and found out just how they reacted when they heard the news that they had been selected as the UAE’s first two astronauts. While most would choose

to celebrate with a meal out or a party with friends and family, Al Neyadi, a former IT professional, went about it a little differently -- he went for a jog. “I had to wake myself up and feel reality,” he said. And it’s probably that practical approach to life that saw him being selected for the role. Rather endearingly, both men talked about their love for all things space since being kids, and Al Mansoori called the mission a dream come true. Our readers enjoyed hearing what the duo had to say too, and the story received 36,000 pageviews within the first few hours, and 14,000 views via social media share.