BN candidate-cum-shorthand pioneer wants to continue helping community
By Kamaliza Kamaruddin
DUNGUN, May 2 (Bernama) -- During the 1970s, when most teenage girls aged between 17 and 19 were married with their own families, the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Sura state constituency, Datuk Zainun Abu Bakar, had chosen to help the community.
Many may be unaware that Zainun, affectionately known as Kak Nun, was the first woman in Terengganu to open special classes for shorthand in 1974.
The 65-year-old mother of three said upon completion of her Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia in 1972, she attended a shorthand course at Institut Trengkas Kebangsaan in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.
Zainun, who is married to a successful contractor, Abdullah Abdul Latif, said at that time, not many people were aware of the importance of mastering shorthand to secure jobs in the public and private sectors.
"That's why, after finishing the course, I returned to Dungun and started my first business venture, Institut Perdagangan Malaysia, focusing mainly on offering shorthand classes to help more youth to master the skill."
"Coincidentally, during that time, the oil and gas industry was just about to develop in Kerteh, Kemaman and the industry was in dire need of workers equipped with specific skills."
"Alhamdulillah, throughout nearly 20 years since I opened the shorthand class, I had 10,000 students, with most male students joining the banking and government sectors while female students were absorbed as clerks in the secretarial and office administration field," she said.
Zainun, who is also Terengganu Wanita UMNO treasurer and Dungun Wanita UMNO chief, was speaking to Bernama in an exclusive interview here today.
Having joined politics at the tender age of 19, she said she was determined to continue to help more people in the Sura constituency if she won in the 14th General Election (GE14) on May 9.
"Insyaallah, victory will be in favour of BN this time around, due to our approach of reaching out to the voters which has been practised since five years ago," she added.
The Sura constituency will see Zainun contest against Wan Hapandi Wan Nik (PAS) and Zulkifli Ali (PKR) in GE14.
In GE13, PAS (Hapandi) won the state seat with a 2,957-vote majority over Zakariah Ali of the BN.
-- BERNAMA
