KUCHING: It all started with a dream and passion to help the community through investigative reporting.

Writing Beyond the Norms, a special investigative reporting seminar was held at Pustaka Negeri by award winning journalist Shahren Yusri for two local dailies, New Sarawak Tribune and Suara Sarawak, an initiative with Centexs Commercial, on Thursday (July 14).

Shahren, who hails from Kuching, had a motorcycle accident in 1999, the year before he wanted to pursued law at UiTM, which made him unable to walk for a year.

He saw the accident as a blessing in disguise because he made time to read plenty of books while recuperating.

He managed to complete his Communications course at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, graduating in 2005.

That experience got him a placement as an intern at Utusan Malaysia. He then made his name at KOSMO as an investigative reporter, writing about ongoing issues related to the community.

The public and local authorities would often look for him at Utusan Malaysia or call him regarding issues involving the community.

During the seminar, Shahren stressed that his relentless urge to have his bylines mentioned or his stories featured on the front page of KOSMO was his motivation. His persistence earned him the KAJAI Award in 2007 for his story Mudahnya Gugur Anak di KL.

“I’ve always had a plan, and the plan was to always be the best journalist,” after being interviewed at his graduation ceremony in 2005.

Shahren did not know it then, but those words meant so much and it contributed to a hard-earned career as a press secretary, journalist, director of corporate communications – and currently, general manager of Centexs.