Sayang’s
In my mother tongue, Bahasa Melayu, sayang is a word for love. It is also the name I have given this column, where I write about art and design. I dedicate Sayang’s— my love—to my ever-expanding curiosity and passion for essay-writing—the pleasure of looking closely, thinking slowly, and finding, now and then, the right words for what moves me and in turn, I hope, you.
Welcome to Sayang.’s.
All essays are written by Ian Sufian Hamdan.
What This Summer Taught Me About Courage
In this time, I have been furtively celebrating some of my own exciting milestones, too.
In the same summer, I turned thirty and became a permanent resident of the U.S., I had the chance to collaborate with Abraham Lule, someone whom, in a short period of time, I have come to regard as both an idol and a mentor, for his “Make Quality Tangible” talk at Typographics ’26, hosted at The Cooper Union. For me, this was about two years in the making.
How a Bodega-Inspired Typeface Got Zohran Mamdani Elected.
Stood poised behind a branded dais, against a backdrop of the American flag and the boroughs he campaigned to govern—noticeably, Brooklyn’s flag slightly cropped in ABC’s broadcast—Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani delivered his galvanizing victory speech at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater, addressing a crowd of energized and unbridled New Yorkers. The audience roared in unison, their approval echoed through Flatbush and DeKalb Avenues, reverberated outwards across the other boroughs, the nation, and even the world.
When Is The Right Time To Rebrand The Second Most-watched Cable News Network in America ?
MSNBC’s top executives decided November 15th was. The announcement, piloted first by star anchor Rachel Maddow’s recitation of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, interspersed with cinematic imagery of other anchors, the American flag, landmarks, political archives, and kinetic typography. The sequences pulsed and were edited to a rhythmic beat, echoing, almost literally, the heartbeat of the country: its people. The ad’s bold and cinematic proclamation of the brand's newness is undeniably moving.
Understanding Jetstar Asia’s Final Boarding Call.
Jetstar’s exit from Singapore may reflect the pressing challenges in addressing rising commercial costs, but I’d argue for its long-missed opportunity to build emotional equity with its passengers here as compared to other carriers like Scoot.
As it landed on the ground, the news sparked disappointment, but even louder confusion. Customers were left obfuscated by the speed and silence of the decision.