Faithfully Yours

A fateful meeting in Munich brought Singaporean of the Year 2018 Siti Noor Mastura and her fiance Hannan Mian together. Three years on, they share intimate details about their modern romance and the importance of supporting each other’s passions.

- Charlene Fang

Some lovers are just meant to be together. One look at Singaporean of the Year 2018 Siti Noor Mastura, 29, and London-born IT professional-turned-photographer/educator Hannan Mian, 39, standing together in a light embrace, his hand intimately placed on her waist as she – dressed in a delicate lace gown – beams up at him, and you can’t help but think: This is what true love looks like.

For Noor and Hannan, their long-distance love affair sprung from a chance meeting in a coffeehouse in Munich, Germany. Noor, then a flight stewardess with Singapore Airlines, was in Munich awaiting her next flight leg, and having coffee with a friend of Hannan’s. Fresh off a long flight, Hannan was initially reluctant to make his way down to the cafe, but after some cajoling, he decided to meet his friend (and Noor) there. The rest, as they say, is history.

“We know this sounds so incredibly cheesy, but we knew the second we laid eyes on one another,” share Noor and Hannan on the first time they met.

The Courtship

What Noor didn’t know then was that Hannan was meant to leave Munich the next day. Instead, he delayed his trip and invited Noor to join him to explore the Alte Pinakothek (Munich’s Old Picture Gallery), where according to her “he impressed [me] with his knowledge of art history”. Their first proper date set the art/travel/explorative tone for the rest of their courtship. “Our second date was in London, where he took me to the British Museum and again, impressed me with his art history! Such a show-off, but it worked,” laughs Noor.

Speaking to both separately, it’s hard not to detect the passionate bond that they share.