'He was the light in my life': Mother of NSF killed in bike crash says he was due to pass out of BMT

Just days before his Basic Military Training (BMT) passing out parade, Lutfi Adib Yusof was tragically killed after an accident with a lorry in Johor, Malaysia.

Lutfi, 20, encountered a breakdown while riding a motorcycle at about 5am on Sunday (May 31) at the 82.4km mark of the northbound section of the North-South Expressway near Batu Pahat.

He had stopped on the emergency lane but was struck by an out-of-control lorry.

Lutfi suffered serious head injuries and died on the way to the Sultanah Nora Ismail Hospital.

An obituary expressing condolence to Lutfi's family was published in The Straits Times on Tuesday by the commanding officer and staff of the Basic Military Centre School 3.

Speaking to Malay newspaper Berita Harian (BH) on Tuesday, Lutfi's family said he was due to attend his passing out parade on June 7.

His mother Kartini Mohd Kamil, 56, recounted how she received an early morning phone call from her daughter informing her of the accident. He was the youngest of four siblings and lived with his mother and stepfather.

"Lutfi was a very cheerful child and had many friends. Many told me he loves helping others," Kartini told BH.

"He was a good child... He would give his best in all he did," she added.

"Even though he was still young and I was undergoing divorce, he would always be supportive. When I remarried, he accepted and approved," she said.

"He was truly the light in my life."

Lutfi's eldest brother, Muhammad Ashraf Yusof, 28, said the deceased was on the road trip to Port Dickson on Malaysia's west coast.

He arrived at about 10.30pm at a motorcycle workshop and changed the vehicle's exhaust and waited for friends, but they had been held back and would only arrive at about 3am.

He then decided to head to Port Dickson alone first, and went to Machap in Johor to refuel, Ashraf told BH.

Lutfi's friend, Shahrul Nizam Nor Rizal, 24, said he and other friends saw Lutfi's location near a petrol station in Machap via the Life360 app.

As he was not responding to text messages, the friends contacted a workshop in the area that they would frequent, hoping that someone would have seen Lutfi, who had borrowed Shahrul's motorcycle.

A Malaysian man told Shahrul that he had indeed seen someone riding his motorcycle, which appeared to have a problem.

The man then showed them a video he had recorded of a motorcyclist lying lifeless by the roadside, wearing a bright blue jacket and a white helmet.

Kartini told BH, "In my heart I kept praying that we would be able to meet him. But when we arrived at the hospital and saw everyone crying, deep in my heart I knew that he would leave us."

Lutfi was laid to rest at Lim Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery on Monday.

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