Those were Mr Mamat Lambak's last words to his wife before the badly injured 66-year-old slipped into unconsciousness and sank into the sea in the Johor Strait.

Madam Banon Raja Deraman, 60, clung on tightly to the bouyant fishing net her ever-protective husband had thrown over till she was finally rescued.

Minutes earlier, at about 6.15am on Sunday, the couple's small motorised sampan - 300m from shore - had been hit by a passenger boat.

Madam Banon had a bad feeling when she saw the larger boat, believed to have a capacity for 20 people, heading in their direction.

The couple had been making their way back to Tanjung Piai after some overnight fishing.

But their sampan, borrowed from a relative, never made it.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.