A crowd gathered at dusk under the fig tree canopy of Sydney's Hyde Park to say goodbye to Bikram Lama, holding electric candles in blue, red, white and purple. The 32-year-old homeless man died nearby and lay undiscovered for up to a week.
A Call for Change
Homelessness support worker Erin Longbottom delivered a powerful message: "No one should be left to die in the middle of Sydney, alone and unseen." The vigil, tucked behind St James station, saw Lama's friend Joe Trueman, a former rough sleeper, play the Phil Collins song 'Another Day in Paradise' on the guitar in tribute.
Bikram's Story
Lama came to Australia from Nepal with hope for study and opportunity. St Vincent's Health, which had been trying to assist him, noted that his non-resident status made it nearly impossible to escape homelessness. "Late last year, my team and I arrived at work to the news that one of the young non-residents we had been trying to support had died," Longbottom said. "That was Bikram. Tonight we remember him. A young man who came here with hope, for study, for opportunity, and for a future. A person who lived, and struggled, and died unseen."
Lama's body was decomposed by the time it was found by station staff. His elderly mother was asked to travel to Kathmandu from her remote village to provide a DNA sample to confirm her son's identity. The coroner's court is still waiting for formal identification, causing frustration in the Australian-Nepalese community.
Voices of the Homeless
Bam Bunyalak, who arrived from Thailand on a student visa and experienced homelessness, spoke at the vigil. She said being a non-resident in Australia can feel like a "disease with many symptoms," including homelessness and mental health struggles. "Bikram Lama deserved a better life, but now he is gone. He did not get the chance to say goodbye to his family, and it feels like nobody cared. So today, I stand here as a non-resident, one voice among many non-residents to say that every single life matters, regardless of race, gender identity, background or residency."
Political Response
Independent state MP Alex Greenwich attended the vigil and said he had met with Premier Chris Minns and written to the state attorney general urging an inquest into potential policy failings. "I'm concerned that at a state and federal level, we have policies that discriminate against rough sleepers who are non-residents," he said. Greenwich noted that Lama died only about 200 metres from NSW parliament, where policies may have contributed to his death.
A Watershed Moment?
Lama's death is one of three recent cases that have shocked the nation, including a newborn baby's death at a homeless camp and a young Indigenous mother's death from sepsis after eviction. Experts and homelessness groups say these deaths must be a watershed moment. "No one should die alone," Longbottom said. "No one should die invisible. And no one should die because they are homeless. We need to hold onto the simple truth that sits underneath all of this: Homelessness is solvable – if we as a society choose to solve it."
