On the first anniversary of the death of Wilson Younan, SBS Assyrian met three personalities who shared their memories and experiences with him.
Rabi Benyamin Benyamin, Youhanna Bidaweed and Naseem Sadiq befriended Wilson Younan throughout the years and recently shared their memories and experiences with him.
Mr Benyamin is a well-known author, writer and Assyrian language expert. He tells how he met Mr Younan for the first time in 1993, and that from that date, a strong bond was established between them that lasted until the latter's death.
Mr Benyamin also expressed his delight and pleasure to assist Mr Younan whenever he needed him to find Assyrian words urgently for news translations and he also mentioned Mr Younan's interest in hearing the criticism and opinion after every program was broadcast.
Youhana Bidaweed is the Secretary of the Chaldean league in Victoria, and a writer, thinker, activist and advocate for Chaldean affairs in Australia. Mr Bidaweed knew Mr Younan from early 2004 through Ankawa.com and established good relations with him for decades based on respect, understanding and mutual beliefs. He said he had considered Mr Younan as a bridge that connected members of the community in Australia and around the world and aimed at establishing relationships among the communities, based on respect and tolerance.
Naseem Sadiq is SBS Assyrian correspondent from Duhok-Iraq. He recalled how he was chosen by Mr Younan to be the correspondent for the Assyrian program and how lucky he was to fall in his path as that gave him the opportunity to expand his journalistic experience.
Mr Sadiq said Mr Younan knew about him through his published article at Ankawa.com. He thanks the editor of Ankawa.com, Amir AlMaleh, for being the conduit through which he met Mr Younan.
All three men said My Younan's passing had left a huge gap in Assyrian media and journalism and his shoes would be hard to fill.
