SHAH ALAM, July 25 — Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate for the Sungai Kandis state by-election, today outlined five programmes to empower women that he would implement if elected as the assemblyman on August 4.

The first was a holistic education empowerment programme that provided exposure on parenting from an early stage, he said at a press conference on the fifth day of the campaign here.

The second was health empowerment through the ‘Peduli Sihat’ healthcare programme of the state government which included mammogram screening and the ‘Peduli Sihat’ card, he added.

Mohd Zawawi, who is from PKR, said the third was security empowerment which focused on domestic violence and abuse of children and added that he would also set up a complaints centre and a transit centre for children.

The fourth and fifth were economic empowerment and welfare empowerment, respectively, which gave priority to improving the economy of women with programmes such as the food truck and entrepreneur funding, he said.

In the by-election, polling for which is on August 4, Mohd Zawawi is facing Datuk Lokman Noor Adam of BN-Umno and independent candidate K. Murthy. The by-election is being held following the death of the assemblyman, Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei of PKR, on July 2.

Mohd Zawawi, who is the headmaster of the Maahad Tahfiz Al Fateh Jalan Kebun, a religious school, said efforts to assist women, especially those having problems, should be implemented seriously and in a comprehensive manner.

"I am not surprised to see some people who still regard women as second-class. The dignity of women should be held in high regard and their services should be appreciated.

"Therefore, as a commissioned counsellor, I am determined to use my expertise in the fields of motivation and family development to help women facing problems through the implementation of these five programmes,” he said. — Bernama