Or “poorly spelt”, take your pick.
Could the remnants of the WPCA be involved in this? Toowoomba is the stomping ground of an individual that is very well known to us and there’s no denying that the chap in question is a simpleton…
JOHN Yaak would be living his dream, fitting the people of Toowoomba with unique imported shoes, if it wasn’t for the hate mail and phone calls from a few racist individuals.
The tall former basketball player speaks quietly as he expresses his fear of not knowing who’s behind the threatening phone calls he receives every night and the outrageous letters left under his door warning him to leave town.
“I don’t know who they are,” Mr Yaak said yesterday as he kept shop at Foot Softer, the store he opened two months ago in Market Plaza.
Every night around 8.30, Mr Yaak receives a call from a private number, each time with a different voice warning him that: “We know you, where you live and what car you drive.'’
“Every time it’s a different person,” he said, adding that the voices were both old and young. “Sometimes I decide not to answer.”
The most recent letter, slipped under the sliding glass doors of his business, was clearly written by a simpleton.
“Urgently worning (sic),” it reads. “Dear Deadman, We will distroy (sic) you and your business we give you 72 hours to move out of this city, OK, we know your movement. (expletive) u man.”
Another note read: “Beleive (sic) it or not u deadman.”
If the notes say anything about their authors then one thing is certainly obvious ñ they can’t spell.
However, that doesn’t quell Mr Yaak’s fears as he goes about his daily routine.
Mr Yaak moved to Australia as a Sudanese refugee in 2000 after living in a refugee camp in Kenya for 10 years.
He later spent three years in the United States after scoring a position on the University of Conneticut’s baskeball team but gave it in and moved back to Australia when he developed knee problems.
After doing some research in Toowoomba, the entrepreneurial Mr Yaak decided to follow in the footsteps of friends in Brisbane and open a discount store with shoes imported from Italy and Syria, selling styles that aren’t found elsewhere.
From men’s sports shoes to stylish sneakers, women’s hand-sequined heels and cute flats, Mr Yaak’s range is individual, and cheap, for Toowoomba. He also has a small range of children’s shoes and school shoes.
Mr Yaak said he reported the threats to police, who told him to keep a log of the calls and letters.
Sergeant Tony Petersen, of Toowomba Police, said people who received death threats should immediately report them to police.
“Make a note of the time of the call so we can check back,” Sergeant Petersen said. “We can trace phone numbers even if they’re private.”
If anyone receives a letter, Sergeant Petersen said it should be handled as little as possible. He said each case was acted on depending on its merits.
About 750 Sudanese people now call Toowoomba home after leaving their war-torn home country.
Many, such as Mr Yaak, have spent a decade, if not more, living in camps in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda.
While the majority of the Toowoomba community has embraced the new arrivals, there are some who have gone out of their way to make their lives uncomfortable.
Despite the threats, Mr Yaak said he still believed Australia was a friendly country.
Back at Foot Softer the No 1 Discount Shop in Town, Mr Yaak said all he wanted was to operate his business in peace and generate happy customers.
“That is my hope, that is my dream,” he said.
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