State polls: Pakatan’s Pilah candidate sees politics as a platform to help the needy

KUALA PILAH: Throughout her 20 years of running a tent rental business, Noorzunita Begum Mohd Ibrahim has travelled to every corner of Malaysia.

Having done events in urban areas as well as rural villages, there was one thing the now 43-year-old always kept close to her heart: the feeling of watching the underprivileged and needy struggling to get through each day.

“(Back then) we would set up tents for functions at customers' homes and sometimes, their neighbours from underprivileged backgrounds may come over.

“It was a sad moment especially when I saw they were less fortunate and lagging behind others,” said Noorzunita Begum, who is Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for the Pilah seat in Negri Sembilan.

With encouragement from her husband, a Kuala Pilah PKR Youth wing member at the time, Noorzunita felt the push to join politics which saw her eventually working her way up to becoming state PKR Women's wing chief.

“We made many home visits to single mothers and underprivileged communities, and their cries for help greatly affected me.

“I felt that to better help the needy, I needed a bigger platform,” she said during a recent interview.

“Politics isn’t just about helping directly but also drafting policies to assist the community in a comprehensive manner and steer them towards a better future.

“It’s about pouring your heart and soul into (serving) the people,” she added.

With the campaign period reaching the halfway mark, Noorzunita Begum said most voters in the constituency still preferred to get to know their candidates face-to-face rather than virtually.

“We received feedback on this from community leaders, and we planned our schedules accordingly.

“The constituents want to see us (the candidates),” she said, adding that a large proportion of voters here were over 40.

If given the people’s mandate, Noorzunita Begum said development would be her main focus.

“Kuala Pilah is developing steadily. The focus will be on the rural areas.

“Communities in villages here have also expressed interest in the agriculture sector and want their assemblyman to help them in this,” she said.

“Holistically developing this constituency can also reduce the number of hardcore poor,” she added.

Noorzunita Begum is in a straight fight against state PAS commissioner Rafiei Mustapha for the seat.

Polling in Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu is on Aug 12, with early polling on Aug 8.