Love & Coffee was inspired by the hardships faced by young Malaysians, whereby the young couple in the painting can only share a small cup of coffee due to lack of money. The jagged line invokes a graph of a down-spiraling economy. The hands, both neither masculine or feminine, demonstrate an openness to either a heterosexual or gay relationship. Everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, is affected by love.

The beads, reminiscent of the rosary, indicate significant dates to Malaysia: January 9th, 2012 is one of such dates that the artist feels is a start of significant change for the country. The handcuffs indicate that young Malaysians cannot escape our history, trials & tribulations of our country.

This is a photograph of an actual painting, of the following details: size:600mm X 1200mm; & media: acrylic on canvas.

This painting was created for #LoyarBerkasih and is on auction to raise funds for the Borneo Youth Revolution.

Borneo Youth Revolution was born on December 2011 when young Sabahans decided to raise awareness and peacefully claim public space in Kota Kinabalu in a candle-light marathon for non-violence against women & children. This initiative was part of the 16 days of Activism Against Gender Violence international campaign.

We are: young lawyers; single mothers; gay rights activists; students; environmentalists; youth activists; Orang Asal activists; women’s rights activists; and more!

Our mission is to provide a platform for young East Malaysians to voice out on issues that matter to them. We provide support, safe space and an avenue to create activities that will help to provide solutions.

We have since organized public talks including a discussion on undocumented migrants in Sabah, and the recently-held popular “Politics & Youth” forum, held in the Youth Prep Center, Alamesra.

We have garnered young aspiring politicians on a single platform to inspire youths to take part in our nation’s democracy. This is likely the first non-partisan event organized by civil society in Kota Kinabalu, bringing various political parties to the table.

We are currently hosting a Tikar Picnic this Saturday (February 11th, 2012) in conjunction of the Bonding with Gaya Street community arts initiative to preserve Kota Kinabalu’s heritage. More information about this event can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/events/118583244928404/

So far, all our activities have been self-funded. Solely non-profit, we aim to raise funds for our activities through a series of auctions of art by our talented members.

Artist Egn with #LoyarBerkasih curator. Love & Coffee is the same size

Harold Eswar’s paintings are usually priced at RM1200 per piece.

For this auction, bidding starts at RM500. If you are interested in placing a bid, please visit the Borneo Youth Revolution Fundraising page and support a good cause initiated and driven by youths from Borneo. We provide free shipping/transportation of painting.

Many thanks, and happy bidding!

Updated: Current bid stands at RM888 by Ms. Cynthia Ong, Sabah.

Thank you, Cynthia!

Harold Eswar, also known as "Egn", is a social surrealism artist from Sabah who hopes to make a difference in the socio-political arena using art. He can be reached on Twitter @harold_EGN.