A Conversation With Afiq Rezza, Singapore's Coolest Hawker
Hawker by day, creative genius by night.
You may know Afiq Rezza as one of Singapore’s hippest – and happening – hawkers. His food business Yunos N Family is part of the legacy left behind by Rezza’s grandfather, the late Haji Yunos Ahmad, and is famed for whipping up one of the meanest mee soto dishes in town.
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Thanks to the keen design eye and great personal style of the interior design-trained Rezza, the business is also known for its sleek CDG-meets-DSM-esque branding which spans the predominantly monochromatic visuals on social media, staff uniforms, and exclusive merch like T-shirts.
Afiq Rezza in action during his day job as hawker.
Together with Amaliah Kaiyat (she’s an educator and his wife of six years), the couple has channelled their common interest in music, the arts, and fashion into Akar Studio which they formed around 2013 when they started dating.
“We both come from an art school background and have always been doing creative things together,” says Rezza who named the venture after their acronyms. “Since we don’t get to be creative in our daily jobs, Akar Studio is our artistic outlet.”
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Husband and wife creative duo, Afiq Rezza and Amaliah Kaiyat.
One of Akar Studio’s recent ventures is Sesi Oleh Akar (translated to 'sessions by Akar' in Malay), which sees Rezza releasing old clips of jam sessions on his Instagram page (@rezzarezzarezza). He describes them as "laid-back, one-take cover sessions", and a throwback to his younger days of performing in an indie-pop band and organising music festivals.
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As Rezza puts it, he doesn’t deviate toward any particular musical genre, but tends to interpret songs in a laidback, acoustic style. To date, his sessions have covered tracks like Street Car by R&B artist Daniel Caesar and Ekspektasi by Indonesian folk-pop singer Kunto Aji.
He’s also made appearances on MonoMonday, a YouTube series of outdoor jamming sessions produced by local artisanal chendol brand, Chendolkita. Appearing in two episodes in April and May (check out the Aisyah Aziz cameo), Rezza covered tunes by Singapore’s The Great Spy Experiment and Malaysian singer Sheila Majid.
Afiq Rezza and Amaliah Kaiyat's abode.
Another Akar Studio project is Bangunan Teduh (translated to 'shelter' in Malay), which involves the pair curating renovation and interior ideas for their friends. The duo’s own home is quite the design inspiration too, with its monochromatic style and gallery-like vibe.
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There’s also By Akrab, a partnership between Rezza and friends Khairul Amir, Ben Yap and Hylman Suwandi (all of whom hail from arts backgrounds as well). The collective is behind the designs of Yunos N Family’s event merchandise, uniforms and visual installations for pop-ups events which the stall participates in.
T-shirt produced by Afiq Rezza's By Akrab collective. Note how the merch is rolled in a witty way – resembling the packaging in which lontong or rice cakes traditionally come in.
Intrigued by everything he's doing? Ahead, we get Rezza to dish out the details.
Tell us more about Sesi Oleh Akar. Why release your old jam sessions now?
“This project was to relive my love for music and bring me back to the days when Amaliah and I were organising live shows and festivals. It has been an ongoing project but has been sitting in the archives as we never got around to posting it on Instagram.
These sessions are impromptu and usually recorded with very little planning. Take them as jamming sessions between friends and family. The first session was initiated by my younger brother Aqid Rezza, who wanted to record covers.
After which, they stuck on. They are documented by Hylman Suwandi, our friend and resident creative for Akar Studio.”
How did you get started in music and performing?
“I was never a full-time musician, but I enjoy listening to music and performing. My family is musically inclined too. My uncle is in a samba band here called Wicked Aura.
I started out in the music scene at a very young age, at about 17. I (pictured in striped shirt) was part of an indie-pop band called ActDuex − our members were all 16 to 18 years old then. We did a few shows at Home Club and other small gigs around Singapore. The most prominent one was the Youth Olympics in 2010. I’ve also performed solo at weddings, so you can call me a wedding singer too!”
You were also a music organiser in your youth. What kind of shows did you put together?
“Yes, this was from 2011 all the way to 2014. I was part of a music collective called Rockstar Collective.
Every Friday night, we would bring in live bands to (the now-defunct) Home Club. They would play for two to three hours before the DJ started spinning. We also did a bigger project called the 100 Bands Festival in 2014. This comprised three live shows at abandoned places around Singapore, featuring local 100 bands.”
Who are your musical influences?
“If I had to pick one artist, it would be Indonesian singer-songwriter Kunto Aji. All of Kunto Aji’s releases are my go-to.”
When do you plan to restart your Sesi Oleh Akar recordings? Also, are there any original music in the pipeline?
“The sessions are a constant work-in-progress and are all impromptu. We will do new videos when we want to relive those days again. I’m planning to post more throwback videos soon too.
As for original music, that would be the ultimate goal. But as of now, I’ll continue being a night-time bedroom singer and a day-time hawker!”
How did your other creative venture, Bangunan Teduh, come about?
“It all started when friends and families approached both of us after our wedding, wanting to know where we got our bridal party outfits and gift trays. We assisted in conceptualising, designing and sourcing materials to make their wedding ideas come to fruition.
After which, Bangunan Teduh was born. It means ‘shelter’ and was created as a space where we curate renovation and interior ideas for friends and families who have seen our house. We still work closely with contractors to build their homes for them."
What about your arts collective, By Akrab? How did that partnership originate?
“Akrab means ‘kinship’ in Malay. By Akrab is a platform for us (fellow resident creatives Amir, Yap and Suwandi) to work on collaborative design projects.
By Akrab started when Yunos N Family ventured into pop-up events. Our very first event was in 2017, when we popped up at Sole Superior at Zouk to sell mee rebus. By Akrab designed our own pushcart for these events as an honorary symbol to my late grandfather Yunos, who started the business at Hastings Road with a pushcart. Other events we’ve done include Culture Cartel and the Prime Minister’s Garden Party@Istana.
We also started the ‘Close On Sundays’ campaign which includes a visual installation, event merchandise (pictured) and uniforms paying homage to Yunos N Family’s business, all designed by our collective.”
By Akrab has also collaborated with local designers for Yunos N Family merchandise. What were some previous collaborations?
“We collaborated with local designer Pras The Bandit for our work shirts (pictured), which were part of our first pop-up at Sole Superior. We also worked with local stores Goodluck Bunch and Death Threads for other event merchandise.
We don’t want to market ourselves as just caterers whenever we do events, because we also have live stations. So instead of just dishing out food, we’ve created a whole ‘vibe’ with our designs and collaborations.”
How would you describe your design aesthetic?
“Monochromatic with a minimalist edge. When we do pop-ups, our main goal is to juxtapose traditional food culture with something new and current design-wise.
What are your future plans? Any more pop-ups or collaborations in the works?
“Not at the moment because of the current Covid-19 situation. But we’ll definitely have more event tie-ups when we can, and produce new merchandise for these pop-ups. Do keep an eye out!