THEY had strolled on the beach at East Coast Park on romantic dates before.
But Monday night was different.
This time, Miss Dang Thi Tho, 25, ended up fighting for her life.
Her married lover, 35, had dragged her into the sea in a bid to kill her and himself.
The China national, who works in the renovation industry, had wanted her to move in with him but she had refused.
She wanted to get married but he felt the situation was hopeless because his wife in China wouldn't agree to a divorce.
Speaking to The New Paper in Mandarin from her hospital bed yesterday, Miss Dang described how agitated he was as he dragged her into the water.
Identifying him only as Mr Yang, she said she tried to calm him down by reminding him of his two young children in China, but it didn't work.
She said: 'He hugged me tightly and kept saying, 'Don't let go. We must die together'.
'I tried to push him away with my hands and I even bit him but he wouldn't listen tome.'
He pushed her head underwater and she soon lost consciousness.
An eyewitness, a 32-year-old technician who gave his name as Mr Liu, told Lianhe Wanbao that everything happened very suddenly.
Those who were at the scene saw the couple quarrelling.
The man suddenly dragged the woman into the sea.
Bystanders were so shocked that they did not react at first.
Mr Liu said the couple vanished beneath the water within two minutes.
The woman then floated to the surface and was washed ashore by the waves. People at the scene jumped into the water and helped to rescue her.
According to the police, who were called around 10.30pm, a passer-by managed to pull Miss Dang to safety.
He performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on her and she was revived after coughing up some sea water.
But Mr Yang could not be found.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force and the police searched for eight hours, but to no avail.
Mr Yang's body was eventually seen floating in the sea near the McDonald's restaurant by some beach-goers, who called the police at around 8am yesterday..
The police are investigating the case as an unnatural death.
Miss Dang was taken to Singapore General Hospital, where her condition is stable.
Despite his attempt to kill her, she said: 'I don't hate him one bit.'
They met last October at a coffee shop, when Miss Dang was here on a holiday. As she had learnt Mandarin in Vietnam, they were able to get along well.
After they began their relationship, she visited Singapore repeatedly, to see him.
With her eyes red from crying, she said: 'I was the first woman he ever loved. He didn't love his wife. His father forced him to marry her.'
ENGRAVED RINGS
A week after they got to know each other, he had a pair of rings made with their names engraved on them.
They had the date 10 Oct 2007 on them, the day they met.
She was wearing this ring at the hospital yesterday, as she recalled how romantic Mr Yang was.
'Once I was coming here from Vietnam, he waited at the airport for a few hours with a big bunch of red roses, my favourite flower,' she said.
She said her boyfriend often quarrelled with his wife, who refused him a divorce and wanted him to return to China.
'She insisted that he buy a house for her before she would agree to a divorce. But his income was only about $2,000, so he was put in a difficult position,' said Miss Dang.
She said Mr Yang had asked her many times to live with him in his rented four-room flat and to bear him children.
'But he had a wife and children in China. If I moved in with him and bore him children, I would have no status and security, so I rejected him,' she said.
CALL FOR HELP
Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-2214444
Singapore Association for Mental Health Helpline: 1800-2837019
Association of Women for Action and Research: 1800-7745935
