Muhammad Khairul Khazali, a 20-year-old dispatcher for a law firm, has suddenly found himself at the centre of social media attention.

It all started with a simple act of kindness when Khairul approached a unkempt looking homeless man and decided to pay for his haircut.

Khairul shared the experience on Facebook but never did he imagine that it would go viral.

The post had since been shared 16,721 times since March 6.

Khairul, when contacted, said he had seen the man, who goes by the name of Ashuk, for two years but only began speaking to him recently.

“People were giving us strange stares when I was talking or walking with him,” said Khairul.

Khairul said Ashuk initially declined his offer of a haircut, but eventually agreed after some persuading.

“I never imagined that those pictures will go viral. Random people were contacting me with people wanting to offer (him) jobs,” he said.

He said Ashuk will be living with his friend, who has offered him a job.

Khairul added that in his conversations with Ashuk, he learnt that the latter used to be an engineer in Singapore before coming to Kuala Lumpur.

However, Khairul declined to reveal more and ask for Ashuk’s privacy to be respected.

He added that Ashuk does not know that he was now well-known on social media.

“I don’t want him to know, just let him live, it’s like a new lease of life for him,” said Khairul.

Khairul said Ashuk had inspired him to do more acts of kindness.