This is what I call the uplifting news of the day.

AMMAN (AFP) – A Bangladeshi housemaid was reportedly the sole winner of Jordan’s New Year lottery, netting record pre-tax prize money of 350,000 dollars.

It was the largest payout in the history of the lottery, which is run by the general union of charitable organisations, the official Petra news agency said.

Mohammad Abdel Malek, 57, had been working in Jordan for 23 years, one of tens of thousands of Asians employed in the kingdom on wages of as little as 100 dollars a month.

But the lucky winner will have to wait three or four weeks before pocketing his life-transforming windfall, lottery chief Hani Shaqaa told Petra. He will also have to pay 11 percent tax on his winnings.