They might steal each other’s clothes or squabble over who gets to hold the PlayStation, but when it comes to having their siblings’ backs, there’s no room for doubt at all. We speak to Athina and Arif Kamarudin about their unbreakable family bonds.

“We were always fighting,” model and content creator Athina Kamarudin recalls of her earliest childhood years with her younger brother Arif Kamarudin. “I was the only girl between him and my older brother, so I always wanted to be the centre of attention.”

“We’d get annoyed over who hogged the PlayStation!” chuckles Arif, the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for local alt-rock band Midnight Fusic. “But over time, we started to understand each other more.”

“Now we’re very, very close,” Athina says, prompting an enthusiastic nod from Arif. Born and raised in Kelana Jaya, they grew up in a musical household (their mother played the piano and saxophone, while their father rocked the cajon and still ‘kills it’ at karaoke) that was supportive of the creative arts, which gave Athina and Arif enough encouragement to pursue their respective careers in the fashion and music industries.

“All our parents wanted us to do was prove we could make something out of it,” Arif affirms, “And I hope we have enough proof now.” There certainly should be: Midnight Fusic released their highly anticipated EP Modus Operandi in late May, following a brisk schedule playing gigs in Malaysia and Korea over 2024, during which they opened for Australian indie rock band Last Dinosaurs. 

Athina, meanwhile, went swiftly from making her runway debut walking for Alia Bastamam at Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week 2022 to netting two modelling contracts, gracing the covers of multiple local magazines—including ours—and becoming a face of Sephora in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. With the intensely competitive nature of both the fashion and music industries in mind, it helps enormously to have a sibling who understands the pressures of working in a creative environment.

“We’re already close-knit as a family, but because we’re in similar industries, I think it’s easier for me to put myself in Arif’s shoes and see his point of view—to see how far we’ve come and how much we’ve done to grow as the people we are,” explains Athina. “Whenever we’re down or uninspired, we go to each other to get that motivation to keep going. There are days when our confidence is really through the roof, while other times, it can be the most difficult thing to walk out of the house. That’s where our bond has been created: we know we have each other to build up that energy, confidence and self-esteem.”

Due to the two-year gap between them, Athina appears at first glance to be a classic elder sister: a take-charge extrovert who is, as Arif calls her, “the second mother of the house—she takes very good care of me, as well as our parents”. As with all relationships, things are more nuanced than that. “I’m very loud,” says Athina. “Arif is a lot more toned down and calmer in many aspects of life. I’m the panicky one. I need to get things done now, now, now. He’s like, ‘take it easy, life is fine.’”

“It can be loud in my head, though,” Arif interjects. “Sometimes the things Athina says are what I’m already thinking—she kind of says it for me. We have that understanding of each other.” He’s also brilliant at remaining unruffled by criticism, which in turn helps Athina when it gets under her skin: “I’m very much bothered by even one little piece of feedback, but that’s where Arif comes in and tells me if I’ve done my best, there’s not much more I can do.”

“I’m happiest when I see my sister happy with what she’s doing,” Arif says. “She’s always put herself out there and earned recognition from people. It’s made the whole family so proud to see her being able to express herself the way she does, and doing what she wants to do.”

“I’m proud of both of my brothers,” Athina responds. “The three of us have grown so much, and we’ve grown with each other as well. Arif and I are both empaths, and people might take our kindness as weakness—but Arif always proves to me that it’s never the case. I think we always have to put kindness first in whatever we do: the right people will end up seeing that, and it will reflect on ourselves and who we are.”

Photography: Ng Joe Ee
Creative Direction: Ian Loh
Styling: Ian Loh, Joseph Cheng
Hair: Ckay Liow
Makeup: Sharman Yee
Styling Assistants: Sarah Chong, Adrianna Haris
Photography Assistant: David Ong
Art Department: Danial Yap, Adzmi Zawawi
Videography: Adam Amin