I am not happy. The coffee shop in the Community is not open. Still closed because there is no worker. I thought there were plenty of applicants for that job, plus me. I whinged about it to another detainee and was told that the security check usually takes a few weeks. Security check?!!!!! Just to make a coffee in a shop in the detention centre doesn't need a security check, does it?!!!! It's just making espresso coffee! Not brewing beer, you know? What the hell is the security check for?!!! I was amazed.
The detainee said that a barista handles boiling water so it is dangerous. Well, boilers are in the dining rooms and we're always using them. I have not seen or heard any accident or incident. We have kettles in the kitchen, too. What's the difference? Everybody here was well tested for that kind of risk. Gee...
There was another bewildering story. One detainee from Melbourne told me that one detainee had died in the detention centre in Melbourne about three months ago. That detainee complained chest pain all day and was given paracetamol. At that night, he was dead in the centre. But the centre told other detainees that the detainee died in a hospital. The detainee who told me the story couldn't believe that there had been no news in the media and everyone had forgotten about it in two days.
Today, I tried to have a conversation by writing Chinese characters. There is a young girl who arrived, I think, around ten days ago. She doesn't speak a word of English. She cried in the computer room probably because she missed her family. The written conversation was a dismal failure. It didn't make much sense. But I now know she is from the mainland China and she knows that I tried to help her. So perhaps it's OK... I guess. At least she smiled at me at the dinner.