BORNEO PAINTINGS - SIMON C YEW.

Our International Finance Centre Café is home to a small gallery of pictures displayed along one of its walls. The collection is eclectic, ranging from photographs taken on personal travels to artwork purchased at the London Coffee Festival, and everything in between.

Our latest additions spent around 25 years in storage before finally seeing the light of day again. I was approached by Amanda Paull, who had become involved in overseas aid work and was looking to raise money for charity. She had kept these painting hoping one day to find a place to hang them.

Although these works depict scenes from North Borneo, the light, landscapes and atmosphere are strikingly similar to those found in Sumatra, the coffee-growing island that lies to the west of Borneo. Amanda wondered whether we might be interested in purchasing them. It was an easy decision. The moment I saw the paintings; it was clear they had been created by someone with an intimate knowledge of that part of the world.

The artist is Simon C. Yew, who was born in 1898 and died in 1983.Further research revealed that Datuk Simon Chong Yew was a pioneer of artistic development in Sabah, Malaysia. During the 1930s, he became known for painting local scenes that captured everyday life in North Borneo.

Born in Fuzhou, China, in 1898, Yew went on to receive numerous honours throughout his life. He was awarded the Medal of Merit in 1939 and, in recognition of his services to Scouting in North Borneo, received the Silver Acorn in 1953 from Lord Rowallan, the then Chief Scout of the British Commonwealth and Empire. Two years later, in 1955, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. Following Sabah's independence, he was also granted the title of Datuk, an honour often compared to a knighthood.

Today, some of Yew's works form part of the collection of the Sabah Art Gallery, housed within the Sabah Museum.

I find it remarkable that an artist who painted scenes from the other side of the world should now be represented on the walls of our coffee shop in Jersey. His story continues through the serendipity of a chance encounter with Amanda, who had the foresight to preserve these paintings in the hope that one day they would find a worthy home.