Initial research

A story is built on events, things that happen and how they happen.

I began my research by reading Sheridan's analysis on the cow-head protest, one of his last pieces written for New Straits Times before he chose to became a freelance writer.

This paragraph struck a significant ring:

“The most important question in Section 23 temple controversy is not just whether anyone in the cow-head incident will be punished but whether  the 211 residents who attended a townhall meeting with the Selangor government on the matter were a cross-section of the Malay majority.”

Are Malays largely racists? I don't think so, but that is just gut feeling, which also tells me there is more to the temple controversy than what was reported by the media.

At the height of the controversy, I was working on the controversial death of Mariam Johari and the plight of her family to fly her body home from Seoul to Kota Tinggi, so to a certain extent, I did miss out the high drama of the cow-head protest, the townhall meeting that ensued a week later and the aftermath of both events.

I have reservations about reading all the newspaper reports, watching YouTube or blog postings, they are after all secondary data, an interpreted version of the truth. What I really need is fresh opinions on the issue almost a yeaqr after it happened.

The best way to dig out the real story is to go to the ground and talk to the people. Top on our list is Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad who seemed to be the person who had promised the Section 19 residents that he would relocate the temple during the 2008 General Elections and attended the chaotic townhall meeting between the Section 23 residents and state government on the relocation of the temple near their residential area.

Actually Khalid is all that we have for the time being.