Author: nina hovnanian

SYDNEY: RUNNING RIGHT ON TIME WITH TRANSPORT MINISTER GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN

Sunday Telegraph (Australia)
November 18, 2012 Sunday
1 – State Edition

Running right on time

by LINDA SILMALIS

Linda Silmalis catches up with Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian
as her dream run comes to an end

She is the single, well-dressed MP of Armenian heritage who never
swears and is known in her office as “bit of a goody-goody”.

Gladys Berejiklian, the minister tasked with fixing the state’s ailing
public transport system, is breaking down the blokey, blue-collar
culture that she believes has hindered desperately-needed reform..

The former Young Liberals president has the ear of Opposition finance
spokesman Joe Hockey and the respect of her colleagues.

The question is, will her smooth ride soon come to an end?

It was Friday afternoon and Gladys Berejiklian was late. The train
to take the NSW Transport Minister to a transport forum in Sutherland
Shire had not yet arrived.

As she waited, a smallish crowd of office workers waiting on the Martin
Place began to swell. The mood was growing tense. Mobile phones were
being checked. Calls made. Finally, a public announcement.

Something about buses. The message could barely be heard because
the public address system was faulty. Standing amongst the crowd,
Berejiklian had a thought. “I was thinking: These poor people,” she
says. “No-one knows what’s going on. Then I thought: Oh my God. I’m
the Transport Minister and they don’t realise I’m down here too.”

This wasn’t about a late train. It was the treatment of customers. In
Berejiklian’s mind, it was, at that moment, “disgusting”. A question
she has to put to her Labor predecessors is: “Why didn’t you just
fix it?”

Berejiklian joined the Young Liberals in the 1990s while studying
for an Arts degree at Sydney University. She remained active in the
party while completing a Diploma of International Studies, followed
by a Masters in Commerce.

After six years working as a Commonwealth bank executive and a stint in
the officer of former Liberal leader Peter Collins, she was encouraged
to put her hand up for the seat of Willoughby. The Liberal Party at
the time was desperate for fresh faces. It had been taken over by John
Brogden in the hope he would depose Bob Carr. He needed a new team.

Berejiklian was the perfect candidate and she won her preselection
easily. The north shore MP is about as a scandal-free as they come.

One of her staffers says she is known as “a bit of a goody-goody”.

The public face is the same as the private face. Her staff assure
me there are no Kevin Rudd-style dummy spits ready to be uploaded
on YouTube occurring behind the scenes. “She doesn’t even swear,”
a staffer said.

At 42, Berejiklian is the perfect role model for how she expects her
bureaucracy to dress and behave. She is seemingly ageless, although
notes that she found a grey hair two years ago: “Luckily there haven’t
been any more.” She is fiercely protective of her private life,
but says she is close to her family and open to having her own —
despite working around the clock.

She laughs when I ask if she’s on RSVP. “God no,” she says. “I don’t
think you choose these things. You live your life as best you can. When
you are much younger, you have a different view of the world. The
world isn’t easy.”

Riding a crowded bus with her from her Willoughby electorate to Martin
Place last week, we are yelled at by a commuter to “move down”. She
ushers us near the side door. “I don’t want to annoy them.” She
believes people, on the whole, are good. As we are pushed back, she
rejects an offer by her staffer to retrieve her handbag, left at the
front of the bus.

“Oh, it’ll be OK,” she says. “People are honest.”

Berejiklian admits she never aspired to be transport minister. “If you
told me that when I became a member, I wouldn’t have believed you,” she
says. In Opposition, the portfolio was “offered, in inverted commas”,
she says. She says it was a good grounding. “I had no illusions when
I became minister.”

One thing that bugs her is why Labor did so badly in fixing some of
the problems. Simple things, such as improving mobile phone reception
at stations, to take RailCorp out of what she describes is “the dark
ages”. “Optus approached the government 15 years ago, but they put it
in the too-hard basket,” she says. “It took us a few months to fix. It
was too hard for them. I often wonder: Why didn’t they look at quiet
carriages, light rail? They put them all in the too-hard basket.”

She cites her other achievements as the introduction of more than
2000 new weekly bus, train and ferry services a week, starting the
long-awaited North West Rail Link. “We’re at point of no-return with
22 major tenders released and 44 key contracts awarded” and merging
six separate transport agencies to form Transport for NSW.

Other changes have been refocusing the bureaucracy from just on-time
running to include customer service. A new grooming policy means
workers can no longer turn up looking dishevelled or unshaven. No
sunglasses worn on heads. Commuters need to be spoken to with respect.

Public announcements needs to be audible. Trains and stations
need to be cleaner. Cleaners are now called “presentation service
attendants”. They also need to have “good verbal and written
communication skills” and “a customer focus”.

RailCorp has also created customer service attendant positions, whose

job it is to respond “confidently, courteously and efficiently”
to customer inquiries.

In an organisation that attracts a large migrant workforce, it was a
big ask, but one that the notoriously protective Rail, Tram and Bus
Union (RTBU) has somewhat surprisingly accepted. The union initially
pronounced the new uniform policy a waste of money. But RTBU NSW
Branch Secretary Alex Claassens says he sees its merits. “I always
wore a tie when I drove trains and I started out as a cleaner so I’ve
always believed in good customer service,” he says.

“She is yet to do anything to get us too excited. I’ve lived through
the Greiner years when thousands of jobs were cut. If there’s a hint
of that happening, she’ll hear from us.”

However, last week’s announcements a review of staffing at 116 stations
has the union alarmed. Berejiklian has told the union there will be
no overall reduction of frontline staff but Claassens is still nervous.

“I’ve lived through the Greiner years when thousands of jobs were
cut. We will have to wait and see,” Claassens says.

Berejiklian says she believes the commuting experience of customers
was as critical as the development of new transport infrastructure.

“The front end of transport is just as important as the operational
side,” she said. “I’ve had many experiences where I’ve been disgusted
at how customers have been treated, and how staff have looked. It’s
about changing the culture. If staff look good, they feel more valued
and customers benefit.”

Berejiklian says she knows many of her decisions have the support of
union members, if not the union leadership. “I have members contacting
me all the time about different things,” she says.

Challenges ahead include implementing the Opal Card electronic
ticketing trial next month, and introducing a new timetable next year.

There’s also a decision to be made on seatbelts on school buses.

She is also committed to a second Harbour crossing, a proposal that
has drawn the ire of opponents who ask where the money is coming from.

What others say about her is something she says she cares little
about. “We are going to hit obstacles down the track, there will be
challenging times in getting these major projects off the ground. It
will not be smooth-sailing and there will be tough times,” she says.

“But what people say doesn’t really bother me. It’s what you do that
counts and people are noticing.”

Treasurer Mike Baird describes her as one of the hardest-working
ministers in cabinet. “She’s inspired,” he says. Another minister said
Berejiklian was a fighter.If she ever wants a job in Canberra, she
has the backing of Opposition finance spokesman Joe Hockey, a friend.

“She is a stickler for successful outcomes. She is an outstanding
performer with a formidable intellect.

Does she have leadership potential? “Of course,” he says. Canberra?

“Whenever she wants. Wherever she goes, Gladys will deliver.”

MARS ROVER SCIENTISTS VISIT CHAMLIAN STUDENTS

asbarez
Monday, November 19th, 2012

Standing from left to right: JPL Engineers Serjik Zadourian,
Richard Kalantar Ohanian, Arbi Karapetian, Ted Iskenderian, Anahid
Kazarians, Alfred Khashaki, Armen Toorian, and Chamlian Principal
Vazken Madenlian.

GLENDALE-Chamlian Armenian School’s 4th to 8th grade students had
the unique opportunity to participate in an assembly on November 5
about NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, the Mars Science Laboratory
project and the “Curiosity” Rover.

The assembly was presented by several Armenian engineers and scientists
who worked on the project, including Arbi V. Karapetian, the technical
group supervisor for the Integration and Test Engineering Group at
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

After the group assembly, 7th and 8th grade students broke out into
small groups, each led by a JPL scientist. During the interactive
break-out sessions, students got a close-up look of the “Curiosity”
model, with some even trying on the “bunny suits” – the everyday
outerwear of the rover scientists during the seven years they
assembled Curiosity at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada
Flintridge. “Imagine working like this for 12 hours a day,” Karapetian
said.

“They asked so many really good questions and they were so enthusiastic
about space,” said Ted Iskenderian, who has worked on various projects
at JPL for the past 28 years. “To be with kids, it reminded me of
how I felt when I was their age.”

Arbi V. Karapetian, the technical group supervisor for the Integration
and Test Engineering Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena shows students a part of the “bunny suit”

The school administration is grateful to Karapetian and the Mars
Science Laboratory team members for their visit and for providing
Chamlian students with an invaluable learning experience.

27 SYRIAN-ARMENIAN SCHOOLS RECEIVE ARS ENDOWMENTS

Monday, November 19th, 2012 | Posted by Contributor

Armenian Relief Society

Various ARS Projects in Place to Assist the Syrian-Armenian Community

WATERTOWN, Mass.-The Regional Executive Board of the Armenian Relief
Cross of Syria has informed the ARS Central Executive Board that the
sum of $100,000.00 collected for the ARS “Assistance to the
Syrian-Armenian Schools Fund” is being distributed to all
Syrian-Armenian schools.

According to the chairperson of the ARC of Syria Regional Executive
Board, Anna Hagopian, 27 Armenian schools in Aleppo, Damascus, Kesab,
Latakia, Kamishli and other areas have received funds from the
$100,000.00 endowment (see the list of the schools below). “All the
schools outside of Aleppo have been open for months, while the upper
classes of the Aleppo schools are held in Armenian centers and in
schools located in secure areas. We are hopeful,” she stated, “that
conditions will soon be conducive to reopen the grade schools, as
well.”

ARS Central Executive Board member, Zepure E. Reisian added, “As we
had previously announced, the sums received by the Armenian schools
will be allotted to the balance of needy students’ tuitions, as well
as supplying financial assistance to the needs of the schools
themselves, while also relieving the financial burden on the parents.”

It is important to note that, in addition to the ARS “Assistance to
the Syrian-Armenian Schools Fund”, all ARS entities around the world
are raising additional funds for Syrian-Armenian relief. “The ARC of
Syria,” its Regional Executive Board Chairperson declared, “continues
to function in Aleppo and other areas of Syria. After a period of
forced inactivity, the ARC has reactivated its dispensary and
laboratory in order to satisfy the existing needs. We have also
started a medical assistance center in the Armenian-populated quarter
of Suleymanieh. Working against great odds, we energetically continue
to help needy families and students, without sparing any effort to
extend a helping hand to the children of the “Refuge” (Badsbaran). In
the present conditions we are, of course, collaborating closely with
the United Body of Immediate Assistance and the Prelacy – particularly
with His Eminence, the Prelate, himself,” concluded the Chairperson.

In the context of improving the conditions faced by the
Syrian-Armenian community, immediate steps are also being taken by
ARS/Armenia and our Lebanon entity, since a good number of
Syrian-Armenians have sought refuge in Armenia and Lebanon.

In the Homeland, the ARS/Armenia Regional Executive Board has already
formed its committee to manage Syrian-Armenian issues. This committee,
which convenes weekly, organizes public gatherings in Yerevan’s “Aram
Manukyan” Center, and provides information and guidance on issues
faced by Syrian-Armenians residing in Armenia, particularly in the
areas of education, health and legal problems. In cooperation with the
“Help Your Brother” project, the ARS/Armenia Regional Executive Board
has shipped much-needed medications to Aleppo, secured through their
own efforts and partially received from the ARS/Western USA. In
anticipation of the soon-to-arrive winter months, ARS/Armenia has
secured food, warm clothing and blankets for needy families. Narineh
Galstyan, chairperson of ARS/Armenia, is a member of the special
committee formed by the Armenia’s Diaspora Ministry to handle
Syrian-Armenian issues.

In Lebanon, taking into consideration that community institutions are
involved in securing educational and other needs, the ARC has
primarily concentrated on social and medical services, and the “Araxi
Boulghourdjian” Sociomedical Center has provided its resources in the
service of all Syrian-Armenians, with no exceptions. On an average, 25
Syrian-Armenian cases present themselves daily at the various
departments of the ARC, and all of them receive solutions to their
diverse problems.

The Armenian Relief Society has also studied the cases and needs of
college students who have left Syria due to the present turmoil and
ended up in Armenia or Lebanon – by now, the Armenian authorities have
already cancelled tuitions for Syrian-Armenian students. The ARS
continues to closely monitor conditions in other countries.

In answer to questions posed to her, ARS Central Executive Board
chairperson, Vicky Marashlian, stated, “Twenty-seven ARS entities in
various countries were the very first in their Armenian communities to
start a fundraising movement to assist the Syrian-Armenian Community.

The results of that endeavor have already reached Syria and have been
allotted to the Syrian-Armenian schools. Our entities and membership
continue their fundraising efforts within the community-effort
context, while on the ground they actively serve the diverse needs of
the Syrian-Armenians. I want to express my deep appreciation to the
ARC/Syria membership, still on the ramparts of their duties, doing
their very best to serve their people regardless of the prevailing
conditions of chaos and insecurity. With the assistance of the global
ARS family, ARC/Syria will soon start to supply warm food to needy
families, at least twice a week. An initial sum has already been
transferred to our ARC colleagues, with the consistent hope that the
need for this assistance will end soon. The ARS will continue its
discrete endeavors in serving the needs of the Syrian-Armenian
community, with a thorough understanding of the seriousness of the
present situation, focusing on real needs, giving our very best in a
systematic and organized manner.”

All ARS entities continue to receive donations for the Syrian-Armenian
community. The ARS Central office is in daily contact with Aleppo,
being apprised of the rising needs and working to satisfy them in
cooperation with the all-Armenian fundraising endeavors.

ALEPPO: The National Karen Jeppe Jemaran, the National Haygazian
School, the National Sahakian School, the National Gulbenkian School,
the National Zavarian School, the Armenian Catholic Mekhitarian
School, the Armenian Catholic Zwartnots School, the Armenian
Evangelical Bethel School, the L. Najarian-Kalousd Gulbenkian School,
the Grtasirats-Chemberjian Secondary School, the Cilician School

DAMASCUS: The National United School, the Holy Translators School, the
Sahakian School, the Armenian Catholic “Light” School, the Armenian
Catholic “Lighthouse” School, the Armenian Catholic United School, the
Armenian Catholic Sisters School

Kesab: The National “Usumnasirats” United Jemaran, the Armenian
Catholic “Hope” School, the Armenian Evangelical “Martyrs” School

OTHER: The National Kamishli school, the “Yeprad” School, the Latakia
National “Martyrs” School, the Yakoubieh National “Veratznund” School,
the Racca National Nubarian School, the Hasakeh National Mesrobian
School, the Derik National “Liberty” School, the Ras-el-Ayn National
“Martyrs” School

ARMENIAN ROOTS AND TRAVELING WITH OBAMA – INTERVIEW WITH PHOTOJOURNALIST SCOUT TUFANKJIAN

November 19, 2012 | 23:50

A photo posted by President Barack Obama on his Twitter and Facebook
pages after his victory in the elections was taken by American
photojournalist of Armenian origin Scout Tufankjian. Scout was one of
the photojournalists working with Obama during his campaign. Armenian
News-NEWS.am presents an exclusive interview with photojournalist
Scout Tufankjian.

One of your photo projects is called “The Armenian Diaspora Project.”

Can you tell a little more about it?

I am trying to create a portrait of the global Armenian community
through photographs and interviews, looking at large and small
Armenian communities around the world. So far I have photographed
communities in Brazil, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jerusalem, Ethiopia,
and the United States. I’m hoping to go to Russia, Bulgaria, France,
India, and Argentina next.

You took photos of American Armenians. Have you ever been to Armenia?

Would you like to take photos of people living in Armenia?

I have been to Armenia in 2002 with my father. It was a wonderful
experience and I’m hoping to return soon!

Please, tell a little about yourself. Where were you born and where
did your ancestors come from?

I was born in Boston, Massachusetts to an Armenian-American father
and an Irish-American mother. My father’s grandparents almost all
came over to the United States as orphaned children. We know that one
of his grandfathers was from Harput and that two of his grandmothers
from one of the villages near Musa Dagh, but that is all we know.

How did it happen that you start working with Obama? Which was the
most impressive about working with him?

I first started covering President Obama before he started running
from President in 2006, when I covered a book signing he was doing in
New Hampshire. I then spent the next two years covering his campaign
for publications like Essence Magazine and Newsweek, and eventually
did a book on the campaign entitled Yes We Can. This year, when the
campaign was started up again, they called me and asked if I was
interested in working for the campaign.

Do you think any person can become a photographer? Do you consider
taking photos is a job or an art?

I think photography is a little bit of both. Anyone is capable
of making one or two amazing pictures. The thing that separates
a professional from an amateur is not so much talent, but rather
is the ability to produce good pictures consistently, and this is
something that can be learned if you work at it hard enough. So I
would say that anyone who is willing to put in years of hard work
(often with little reward) can become a photographer.

You have photos from Western Armenia (currently Turkey). Tell please
what have you felt when made them.

I loved traveling through the parts of Anatolia that are historic
Armenia. Because I grew up hearing stories about Harput and Musa Dagh
from my grandparents, it was amazing to be able to actually be there –
to see Harput Castle and to meet the Armenians who are still living
near Musa Dagh. On the other hand, it was heartbreaking to see the
rubble from the Armenian neighborhoods in Harput, and to realize
how completely we had been erased. There were moments of light,
however, such as an organization in Diyarbakir (Dikranagert) that
is teaching Kurdish girls Armenian history and the Armenian style of
silversmithing, so that our memory will not be forgotten.

You said you speak a little Armenian. Would you like to learn more?

Anshoosht! (Certainly!) I have a friend who teaches Armenian at
Columbia in New York, and she has given me some lessons.

Unfortunately, I travel too much to be able to commit the time I
really need in order to learn.

ARMENIAN UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS ATTEND SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE IN RUSSIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
November 19, 2012 – 21:05 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Russia’s Ryazan city hosted a scientific conference
titled “Books lie at the core of national culture” in the framework
of 500th anniversary of Armenian printing, The event organized by
the city’s Armenian community jointly with RA embassy in Russia,
brought together Armenian and Russian professors and scientists,
Ryazan regional government, Duma and municipality representatives.

Armenian delegation members came up with reports, with Pro-Rector of
Yerevan State Linguistic University L. Fljyan, Dean of the Faculty of
History at Yerevan State University E. Minasyan, Dean of the Faculty
of Russian Linguistics P. Balayan and Dean of the Faculty of Armenian
Linguistics A. Avagyan, reports the RA Ministry of Culture among them.

100 FOREIGNERS WORKED AND LIVED ILLEGALLY IN ARMENIA’S ARMAVIR

news.am
November 19, 2012 | 17:17

ARMAVIR. – A criminal case is instigated for realizing illegal business
activities with engaging citizens of Uzbekistan in Armenia’s Armavir
Region.

It is informed that N. Petrosyan carried out agricultural activity
in the land belonging to him during 2007 to 2012 in Talvorik village
community without having it registered first.

Over 100 foreigners mainly from Uzbekistan, who had no legal rights
for living and working in Armenia, were engaged in the activity. A
criminal case is instigated on Article 187: Hindrance to legal
entrepreneurial and other economic activity.

GEORGIAN DIOCESE OF ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH TO COLLECT FUNDS FOR SYRIAN ARMENIAN CHILDREN

news.am
November 19, 2012 | 20:32

Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church intends to hold a
fundraiser to help the Armenian community in Syria. The announcement
was made during a video conference with press secretary of Berian
Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Aleppo Zhirayr Reisyan
who presented the current situation of the Armenians in Syria.

As Armenia News-NEWS.am was informed, in the Georgian diocese of
Armenian Apostolic Church during a video conference the participants
had the opportunity to ask questions to two children from Syria,
brother and sister who, while travelling to Sweden due to problems
with the documents, found shelter in Tbilisi.

The girl has excellent command of the Armenian language, as she went
to an Armenian school in Syria. According to the children, in their
own perception, the Armenian community of Georgia became a family
for them, and during their days in Georgia, they also visited the
Armenian Church of Holy Etchmiadzin in Armenia.

ARMENIAN CHAMBER OF ADVOCATES MEMBER BEATEN TO DEATH

tert.am
19.11.12

Samvel Sharbatyan, a 49-year-old member of the Chamber of Advocates of
Armenia, was found dead in the restaurant in the village of Shahumyan,
Lori region, Armenia.

The body had signs of violence, which suggests Sharbatyan had been
beaten to death, Ruben Sahakyan, Chairman of the Chamber of Advocates,
told Tert.am.

Considering all the information available, Chamber of Advocates
drew the conclusion that it was a domestic crime. “Unfortunately,
more restaurant murders are reported in Armenia,” Sahakyan said.

The criminals were unknown persons, he added.

Tert.am got in touch with Mr Sahakyan to know if Mr Sharbatyan had
enemies or had any information that would cause his murder.

After receiving information on a dead body with signs of violence in
the restaurant, police officers arrived at the scene and found Samvel
Sharbatyan’s body.

The police started an investigation.

ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS WELCOMES ARF-D PLATFORM

tert.am
19.11.12

The parliamentary groups of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) and
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) discussed
the ARF-D-presented 7-point platform.

The ANC approved of the platform. The sides thoroughly discussed each
point, Aram Manukyan, Secretary of the ANC group, told Tert.am.

“By and large, our positions coincide, and we commend the ARF-D’s
initiative and will continue our discussions,” Manukyan said.

Aghvan Vardanyan of the ARF-D group told Tert.am he welcomes the
initiative irrespective of what political forces meet.

“The ANC members thanked us for supporting their proposal. We noted
they are perceiving the processes right,” he said.

On the other hand, he mentioned some controversial points.

EU OFFICIAL: ARMENIA SHOULD BE GUIDED BY ITS INTEREST

Politics – Tuesday, 20 November 2012, 18:01

During a seminar on the EU-Armenia integration held in Yerevan the
Head of the Political, Economic, Press and Information Section of the
EU Delegation to Armenia Onno Simmons said the idea of the Eurasian
Union is an attempt to return to the USSR. He mentioned that Armenia
must understand its interest.

Simmons said that Armenia should be guided by its own interests in
making a choice between the EU and the Eurasian Union. Simmons said
the idea of the Eurasian Union is similar to the European Union but
unlike the EU which has a history of 60 years the Eurasian Union will
be launched in 2015. He noted that Armenia is facing an “either… or”
choice.