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THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN The oldest circulating Greek newspaper outside Greece email: VEMA [email protected] JUNE 2004 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 In this issue... Our Primate’s View THE SALVIFIC AND BINDING CHARACTER OF ORTHODOX WORSHIP PAGE 5/23 THE OLYMPIC FLAME Olympic launch IGNITES AUSTRALIA for Rio - Antirrio bridge with unforgettable Torch Relay PAGE 13/31 Broad participation by Church with its Millennium Choirs and Greek Orthodox Colleges TRAVEL The beauty of Skopelos PAGE 16/34 Commencing its inspirational journey around the world, the first destination of the ‘Athens 2004’ Olympic Torch Relay out- side Greece was Sydney, the host city of the previous Olympic Games in 2000. (Photo above from the celebrations at Sydney’s Opera House) FULL REPORT ON PAGE 20/38 Is Greece Premier Carr urges Olympic Australians to support the Athens Games winner? PAGE 11/ PAGE 11/29 29 JUNE 2004 2/20 TO BHMA The Greek Australian VEMA Girls from the Senior School dressed in ancient dresses St John’s Greek Orthodox College celebrates U.S. DECLARES INDEPENDENCE arrival of the Olympic Flame to Melbourne July 4, 1776 In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Events commenced on Friday, 4th June of the Olympic Stadiums, to how each per- Continental Congress adopts the 2004, the day before the Olympic Flame son would have created a better movie of Declaration of Independence, which arrived in Melbourne, as students from St "Troy" if they were the director. proclaims the independence of the John's College Junior School attended a live The celebrations began at 9.00 am with United States of America from Great broadcast by Radio 3XY from Victoria large crowds gathering and filling the streets. Britain and its king. The declaration Market. Dressed in traditional Greek cos- The Junior School students were also in came 442 days after the first volleys of tumes they performed dances from various attendance with their traditional costumes the American Revolution were fired at parts of Greece. cheering the flame as it made its way down Lexington and Concord in Massa- To the students' credit, some as young as 8, the street. chusetts and marked an ideological and to their teachers, even after their presen- Various dignitaries paid tribute to the expansion of the conflict that would tation had ended, they continued dancing to Olympic Spirit and to Greek Culture from eventually encourage France's inter- the Radio 3XY music, getting into the mood the stage then students from the Senior vention on behalf of the Patriots. of the Olympic spirit. School dressed in traditional Greek cos- On Saturday 5th June Melbourne launched tumes performed dances, much to the the official celebrations of the Olympic crowd's delight. CSS ALABAMA SUNK OFF FRANCE Torch Relay as the Flame was carried by Following this, a tribute to the flame-light- June 19, 1864 Torchbearers around the city. ing ceremony was led by music teacher, Mr St John's College participated in the Stelios Tsiolas, with various dancers dressed Off the coast of Cherbourg, France, the Lonsdale Street community celebration, in in Grecian costumes. Confederate raider CSS Alabama loses a ship- the heart of the Greek Precinct, famous for Dancing teacher, Mr Chris Konstan- to-ship duel with the USS Kearsarge and sinks its confectionary shops and bookstores dinides, paid tribute to the famous scene in The Olympic Flame lit from the original to the floor of the Atlantic, ending an illustri- where endless discussions over coffee about 'Zorba the Greek', with a clever segment on flame in Olympia, Greece ous career that saw some 68 Union merchant all manner of subject take place - from con- 'teaching the newly-arrived young man how vessels destroyed or captured. have been associated with the events hon- spiracy theories regarding the construction to dance'. St John's College was proud to ouring the 'Athens 2004' Torch Relay. LOUIS BECOMES CHAMP June 22, 1937 In Chicago's Comiskey Park, Joe Louis wins the world heavyweight boxing title when he defeats American Jim Braddock in an eighth- round knockout. Louis was the first Afri- can American heavyweight champ since Jack Johnson, who lost the title in 1915. During his subsequent reign, the longest in the history of the heavyweight division, Louis successfully defended his title 25 times, scor- ing 21 knockouts. SPANISH RETREAT FROM AZTEC CAPITAL June 30, 1520 TOP: Boys and Girls from the Junior School dance at Victoria Market. BELOW: The music teacher, Stelios Tsiolas, with Faced with an Aztec revolt against their rule, his ceremony to the Flame forces under the Spanish conquistador Hernýn Cortýs fight their way out of Tenochtitlýn at heavy cost. Known to the Spanish as La Noche Triste, or "the Night of Sadness," many sol- diers drowned in Lake Texcoco when the ves- sel carrying them and Aztec treasures hoarded by Cortýs sank. Montezuma II, the Aztec emperor who had become merely a subject of Cortýs in the previous year, was also killed during the struggle; JUNE 2004 The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/21 Editorial Why let one of Greece's important resources go to waste? MARK DRAGOUMIS What Greece must do is to attract her already trained, national accountancy standards to become educated, multi-skilled and multilingual sons and daughters from all fully operational at a glance or for the bank- Excited about the Olympics? I thought not. ing system to be modernised overnight, there However, here is a piece of good news that over the world and allow them to volunteer not just for one summer, is no need for the archaic Greek educational has gone under-reported. It has to do with the not just for the Games but for good system to be changed at short notice so as to volunteers. start producing immediately the right gradu- When the scheme was first disclosed years acquired a foreign nationality should be when other countries are on the move. Take ates for the country to take off. A study of 203 ago, the Athenian chattering classes went into exempt from military service. India, for instance. How on earth did this small and medium-sized firms in Thessaly overdrive. "Greeks do not volunteer," they This columnist knows the case of Nicos P, country manage from being a synonym for conducted by Spyros Vliamos, professor of opined. "They work for money or not at all. born in Leonidion in Arcadia in 1963, who massive poverty to become a fast developing economics at the University of Thessaly, that The whole scheme will flop." There followed became an Australian and would now like to brainy country? When the American colum- was made public on March 13 this year, the usual refrain: "You can't get anything return to his hometown and start a business nist Thomas L Friedman visited Global Edge revealed that of those who started a business done in this country. All the best projects there. This he can't do because the Greek state - a software design firm in Bangalore - the in Thessaly only 25.7 percent were university wobble, stumble and crumble." Well, this one wants this man of over 40 to serve his stint in marketing manager Rajesh Rao told him that graduates. The good professor promised that didn't. An impressive total of over 160,000 the armed forces. There is worse. Greeks born he had just made a cold call to the vice-presi- the University of Thessaly would soon intro- people - of which close to 10 percent are abroad and therefore nationals of foreign dent of an engineering US company trying to duce business courses for students. Fine. In mainly young diaspora Greeks - did apply, countries can only stay in Greece for six drum up business. No sooner had Rao intro- the meantime, what Greece must do is to while for the Sydney Games the applications months in a calendar year. If they prolong duced himself as calling from an Indian soft- attract her already trained, educated, multi- were only 75,665. Out of this large pool, the their stay they will have to be drafted to serve ware firm, than the US executive said to him skilled and multilingual sons and daughters Athens 2004 organisers - who were aiming at for six months (either consecutively or for "Namaste", a common Hindi greeting. The from all over the world and allow them to 130,000-150,000 applications - will be able to two months a year for three years, or three word sounds exactly like "here we are" in col- volunteer not just for one summer, not just for pick out the 60,000 they need to make the months a year for two years). One really won- loquial Greek. The secret of India's success, the Games but for good. Olympics a success. ders what contribution these foreign-born, Friedman says, is to take the best global inno- Instead of protecting artificially obsolete There is more wealth in these numbers than half-trained soldiers could make to a sophisti- vations, styles and practices and weld them jobs to match existing skills (especially in meets the eye. Once the Games are over, cated 'knowledge-based' modern army. Isn't with the country's own culture. He calls the agriculture), Greece should import new skills Greece will have access to tens of thousands time for the minister of defence to relieve process 'glocalisation'. So, "Namaste" in to create new jobs and thus fight unemploy- of CVs of high-calibre youngsters, potential- them of this burden, at virtually no cost to Greece, ready for glocalisation or not quite ment through the market rather than through ly interested in working in Greece.