Why paint a mundane subject of ordinary people having a meal in what looks like an ordinary kopitiam, so large, in the 100cm format? There is a gulf of alienation between the two protagonists seated around the round table, in the foreground. It’s an unusual splayed perspective used, with the round table slightly tilted, showing what’s on the table. The younger-looking lad in Bermuda pants is made to face the viewer, his left leg brusquely tucked up on the chair. He has his back turned to an older-looking companion looking a mite morose. Is this about a generation gap? The dramatist in John Lee Joo For would be tempted to inject tension and to pique curiosity, and value-add, by turns of gestures or poses, even expressions. Behind them, three persons are huddled over another table, with a fan hovering in the ceiling. Such scene is unheard of in an Australian eatery where there is proper seating protocol. Maybe it was just a reminiscence of the carefree days of kopitiam chatter in Malaysia before he migrated to Australia in 1973.