Yassin was quietly spoken and gentle. We saw him every day when we came to work. He was often outside the building, or more recently across the road outside the Uniting Church.
Yassin made sure the bins were out for the garbage collectors, and that people had parking tickets on their cars in case the rangers passed by. He looked after the area so well that we nicknamed him 'the concierge'. Yassin had been in the area for about ten years.
I occasionally tried to engage him in conversation but he did not seem to want to talk, though he was happy to say 'hello', 'thank you' and 'God bless'. Some of us would give him papers and magazines, as he seemed to enjoy having something to read. Yassin liked The Guardian, and the Herald. Someone said they saw him with a Qur'an, and occasionally he read El Telegraph (a Sydney Arabic newspaper).
Others ensured he had his cigarettes and food. I only recently learned his name was 'Yassin'. Others knew him as Matt, or Michael. Yassin had a shopping trolley with bags tied to it and all his worldly possessions inside.
Ian from the church tells me Yassin would help teach basic living skills to the 'new boys' in the area. On occasion we saw him speaking with others living in the streets nearby. Some of the other men in the area would visit him and chat. Sometimes we saw him with his washing hanging out — he was always tidy and looked after himself.
Last Tuesday I did not see him. I thought maybe he was elsewhere, and only later learned what had happened.
Apparently someone took his trolley and he became very upset. Then late on Monday evening one of the security guards from the Defence Department nearby found him lying unconscious and without a pulse.
Within days, there was a photo of him and some flowers outside the church where he would often sit and sleep.
Yassin died on Monday 30 July, in his home — Pitt Street. The spontaneity of the flowers, chalked comments, photos, and a painting from people who live and work around Pitt Street showed me Yassin had friends.
Ian held a memorial service on