Adib, a member of the Emergency Medical Response Service (EMRS) team, died 21 days after he was dragged out his vehicle and assaulted by rioters at the Sri Maha Mariamman in Seafield.

He and his colleagues had been there to put out a fire set by rioters.

“It’s strange. His job was to save people, yet this happened. Never in our history has this happened,” said Mohd Khairul Hafizh, 30, Adib’s colleague at the station.

Khairul Hafizh said he had worked with Adib for three years, but in separate teams. Khairul is in Team A, while Adib served in Team C.

“He was good person. He would never talk back, and if he made mistakes, he would own up to them. He would always smile when you greeted him.”

Khairul Hafizh added that Adib was a happy-go-lucky person who would join the rest for any activities. He especially loved fishing, he said.

“He never missed any activities organised by the station. A real good guy. He never spoke ill of others.”

Another colleague, Mohd Khairul Nizam Mohd Fauzi, said Adib was a quiet man, but very jovial, especially when he was around his friends.

Khairul Nizam said he would have short conversations with “Dib” when the shifts changed, and since they were in different teams, Adib would talk about what happened during his shift.

Khairul Nizam said he had his longest conversation with Adib a week before the unfortunate incident. He recalled discussing the medical gloves used by the EMRS personnel.

“He told me that we had run out of gloves in the EMRS vehicle, so I gave him the money to buy more. He asked me about the change and I said he could keep it for petrol,” he said.

Khairul Nizam said occasionally, they would hang out on their off-days or go fishing at the Puchong lake.

He added that Adib would never say “no” to anything he was asked to do and was very professional.

“We are still shocked at what happened because initially, we received news that his condition was improving. Suddenly, we heard his health was deteriorating.

“I will miss his smile,” he said.