Abu-Ghazaleh: I worked as a translator and I loved both languages, I worked in an ice cream factory and I loved ice cream, and I worked as music cassettes seller and I loved music

AMMAN -  December 3, 2015 - In "Helwa Ya Donya" talk show broadcast on Roya TV Channel every Friday morning, a special interview with HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh was aired during which he talked about his life and stories of success that were born out from the womb of suffering, from his displacement at his childhood to a man of achievements who excelled globally in various areas and businesses, most notably in the protection of Intellectual Property.

At the beginning of the interview, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stressed that the beauty of the talk show starts with its name "Helwa Ya Donya" (Beautiful World) because life is really "beautiful" and we see it "beautiful" when we know where its beauty lies.

He began in this world 77 years ago in the coastal beautiful city of Jaffa, and then embarked on a long journey starting with his childhood in Jaffa, Palestine, that turned him at the age of ten years into a refugee, which was a blessing for him in spite of everything where he says: "I am happy and lucky because God granted me the blessing of suffering which made me a challenger."

He said that there is nothing called loss, but there are details of life, and what remain are the person and his determination, which are the real treasure. With the determination, we can always start again and face any problem.

He added: “I spent my childhood working and studying at the same time, I used to walk from Al Ghazieh village in south Lebanon to the first school in Sidon for four hours on a daily basis, which made me forcibly exercise sport, and gave me good health. In addition, this walk gave me the chance to review my lessons, think about my future and my work and made me more determined to conquer my enemy.”

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh spoke about some professions he practiced while he was pursuing his education, where his first job was in an ice-cream factory. "I was working on wrapping ice cream cones, and I was very happy because this work provided me with money, and free-of-charge ice cream," he said. 

He added: "I also worked in a music shop and studied classical music which I greatly love. I also worked as an [English-Arabic] translator while pursuing my studies, which made me love both languages passionately."

Meanwhile, some of the musicians of the Jordanian National Orchestra Association (JOrchestra) joined in the interview and played several musical tracks throughout the broadcast time of the Friday show and Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh commented on this segment by saying: “I chair the Board of Trustees of JOrchestra, which is an honor bestowed upon me by Her Majesty Queen Noor Al Hussein and I  was personally selected for such honorable assignment due to my interest in and intense passion for music, which I consider “food for the soul."

Commenting on a unique photo from his childhood displayed on the screen, he said "This photo means a lot to me and I put it in my office to see every morning, as it reminds me of my childhood when I was a refugee at the age of 11 years and given at that time the difficult financial conditions of my parents who could not afford buying me a sweater for winter, my mother decided to weave me a sweater from a blanket which was usually given to refugees at that time. I used to brag about it among my peers at school because I felt warmer than them and my sweater was more special than theirs because it was hand-made by my mother."

About his education, he  pointed out that all his studies since he left Palestine as refugee till the moment he obtained his university degrees were free-of-charge, saying "I loved school, and I knew it's the only way to beat the enemy, and because of my poor financial conditions I felt I had to excel in my studies and should have a distinctive performance in order to guarantee obtaining  scholarships for all stages, as this was the only way to get an education," he added it was a blessing for me to be from a family that is poor and does not have money which gave me motivation to achieve excellence in education and seek to be superior to peer students.”

He pointed out that the establishment of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Group started in 1972, and in one year during the Iraqi war against Kuwait - and my beginnings were in Kuwait - during that year I lost everything: my home and work, and despite all of this, I went on in life and re-started from zero and since then I have never stopped facing and countering any problems that may arise. I view these difficulties as obstacles ONLY that we should overcome and start again, because a human being is the real wealth and not money or property, and my treasure is the staff that have worked with me and stood by my side and we were all ONE big family."

With regard to Arab nationalism, he said: “I am an Arab and nationalist and I will remain so till my death. I consider every Arab city and country as my own homeland, I do not differentiate between any Arab country and another.

He pointed out that “what we are going through right now has been experienced by Europe in the Age of Decadence and they even experienced worse than that and we have not reached such an age. What we see now of beheadings was seen in France before. Therefore, we shall not accept that someone would come forward and claim arrogantly that this is the end of the Arab world. I say this is the beginning of the Renaissance, and the Arab world will defeat this decadence and the Arab Renaissance shall emerge anew.

In a reportage aired during the show, HE Mr. Taher Al-Masri, former Speaker of the Senate, spoke about Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh and described him as an Arab personality that has become an international figure because of his activities and his sound scientific and logical thinking and his faith in education as a fundamental leverage in the development of the Arab and Jordanian citizens. He is a dynamic man in the true sense of the word holding diverse ideas; he believes in his national duty as a citizen and he performs it not in the ordinary typical manner but by promoting great Arab civic thought.

He added that Abu-Ghazaleh is self-made, growing up in an environment related to the Nakba when he was deported from Jaffa and began an ordinary simple life but he faced the humanitarian and living challenges, learnt and drew lessons from experience from those circumstances and events, did not give up, had faith in his capacities and believes in himself, and he succeeded and achieved as we see him where he stands now. 

Commenting on Al-Masri’s words , Dr. Abu Ghazaleh explained that there are some people who love him and others who hate him, while this person (meaning Mr. Al-Masri) has no haters at all, no one hates Mr. Al-Masri: he is very genuine in his morals and well-known for his integrity, and everybody knows what he has presented to our beloved homeland, he is a role-model for me and I'm learning from him and following in his footsteps when it comes to morality in his political approach, and I had the honor to work with him in the Senate and I learnt and still learning from him how he ran the Senate meetings with much tactfulness, morality and integrity.