Rodziah Ismail is a prominent Malaysian politician. She represents the state constituency of Batu Tiga

Batu Tiga

Batu Tiga is a township in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located at the border between Subang Jaya and Shah Alam. However, it is nearer to Shah Alam than the city centre of Subang Jaya...

 in the Selangor State Assembly

Selangor State Assembly

The Selangor State Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of the Malaysian state of Selangor. The State Assembly is composed of 56 members representing constituencies throughout the state...

. She is also the Welfare, Women's Affairs, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee Chairman in the Selangor State Executive Councillor, which is equivalent to a state cabinet post. She is from Parti Keadilan Rakyat

Parti Keadilan Rakyat

The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...

, which is part of the Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level....

 coalition government in Selangor

Selangor

Selangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...

.

Cow-head protest

On 28 August 2009, a group of Malaysian Muslims staged a protest against the proposal that a Hindu shrine be relocated to a predominantly Muslim neighborhood. The 50 or so protestors marched from a mosque to the Selangor state government headquarters at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Building

Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Building

Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Building is Selangor's state secretariat building. It is located at Bukit SUK, Section 5, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. It was constructed between 1982 and 1984. The building was officially opened on 2 February 1985 by Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah of...

 with the head of a cow – an animal deemed sacred in Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 – and "stomped on the head and spat on it before leaving the site". The protest was caught on video by the popular Malaysian news online portal Malaysiakini

Malaysiakini

Malaysiakini is a political news website published in English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. Since its launch on November 20, 1999, it has been widely considered to be one of the leading non-government owned paid-news agencies in Malaysia. Compete.com estimates that Malaysiakini now attracts over...

.

Malaysia’s Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein

Hishammuddin Hussein

Datuk Seri Panglima Hishammuddin bin Tun Hussein is a Malaysian politician and member of the United Malays National Organisation . He is the current Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs. He is the former Minister of Education, having served from 2004 to 2009. He has been mentioned as a likely...

 defended the cow head protests

Cow head protests

The Cow head protests was a protest that was held in front of the Selangor state government headquarters at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Building, Shah Alam, Malaysia on August 28, 2009. The protest was called so because the act of a few participants who brought along a cow head, which...

, arguing that building a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 shrine is unsuitable because the neighborhood is Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

, and that “the residents only wanted their voices to be heard [and] it was unfortunate that 'the publicity they received was negative because it was linked with racial and religious sentiments.'"

Rodziah was directly involved in this conflict as the residential area involved was within her constituency and as state executive councillor, the relocation of the temple was under her purview. She was called names and insulted for her involvement. Thankfully she stuck to her beliefs in freedom of worship and justice and the temple will be relocated and constructed as originally planned.