GEORGE TOWN: Commander Muhammad Firdaus Ramli was a hero in many ways, said his father Ramli Abd Hamid.
Describing his son as a country hero and hero to the young people of Sungai Nibong, where Muhammad Firdaus was born and raised, he expressed his gratitude for the love Malaysians have shown his late son.
Ramli, in his 60s was speaking to the press after his son was laid to rest at the Masjid Jamek Sungai Nibong Besar here in Bayan Lepas on Wednesday night (April 24).
“I want to thank everyone for loving my son.
“He is the country’s hero. He is Sungai Nibong’s hero,” he said.
He then thanked the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Ayob, 2nd Division commanding officer Major-General Datuk Azhan Md Othman and the government for the assistance rendered throughout the past two days.
“I want to thank our friends and the villagers for all their help as well,” he said.
More than a thousand people came to pay their respects to the commander.
Earlier, Muhammad Firdaus was greeted with a guard of honour as RMN personnel stood in attention to salute the fallen hero as his remains reached the mosque at 7.41pm.
He was then laid to rest at 8.20pm after the solat jenazah (prayer for the departed).
He leaves behind a wife, four-year-old son, his parents and six siblings.
Muhammad Firdaus was one of the 10 crew members in two helicopters, who perished after their choppers collided during rehearsal training at the Royal Malaysian Navy stadium in Lumut, Perak on Tuesday (April 23).
A video of the incident showed one of the helicopters clipping the tail rotor of the other before the two crashed onto the ground.
The post-mortem of all 10 victims were completed on Wednesday (April 24).
The bodies of Muslim victims were then brought to the 23rd Battalion Camp of the Royal Malay Regiment, Ipoh, for solat jenazah before making their way to their respective hometowns.
