He would go on regular humanitarian and mission trips abroad to help the less fortunate and had even asked his friends to join him on his trips.

On Monday, all prospect of such trips ended when Dr Jimmy Tang Chian Piao died while on holiday with church friends in the Maldives.

The 55-year-old Singaporean dentist was found floating face down and motionless in a lagoon at the Club Med Kanifinolhu resort in North Male atoll.

According to the Maldives Independent, a Maldives news website, the incident was reported to the police at 12.39pm. News reports from the Maldives said Dr Tang was rushed to the ADK Hospital in the capital, Male, and died while undergoing treatment.

There was allegedly no autopsy done, so the exact cause of death was not clear. The lagoon was reportedly not deep.

A friend and former classmate of Dr Tang's, who declined to be named, told The New Paper yesterday it would "now forever be my regret that I never went" on a volunteer trip with him.

Dr Tang, who was an active volunteer, was a dental surgeon at a practice in a Housing Board block in Bishan. The friend said Dr Tang was loved by his patients and was an active member of his church.

He said: "(It is) a great loss to the dental profession, his church and missions work."

Dr Tang's body was returned to Singapore yesterday. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesman said: "MFA extends its deepest condolences to the family of the Singaporean who passed away in Maldives.

"We are in close touch with the next of kin to render the necessary consular assistance."