Former member

Mr Lim, who went by the nickname "Black Panther", was a former "369" secret society member.

Family members said he was a "reformed man" after his release from prison in 2005. That was when he met Mrs Lim.

After they got married in October 2008, he began to distance himself from his gangster friends, Mrs Lim said.

"But he still cared about them. He always wanted to help them when they were in need. And look what has happened when he chose to be a busybody," she said.

Mrs Lim said it was because he had responded to a call from his "brothers" that he ended up dead.

They wanted him to mediate in talks with a rival secret society at10pm on Sunday night.

The talks were to have taken place in a member's flat at Teck Whye.

Mr Lim agreed, against Mrs Lim's wishes.

Because she could not dissuade him and was worried for his safety, she decided to tag along, together with a Malaysian friend.

When they reached the meeting place, they were told that the rival gang members were not going to show up. So they decided to have a few beers in the void deck of the block.

Just as they were about to leave for home, Mrs Lim said four youths who were wielding weapons rushed up and surrounded them.

She recognised one of them as a member of the rival secret society who was supposed to have shown up for the meeting. She had met him during a previous encounter.

"But before we could do or say anything, they struck with their metal poles and knives," she said.

Mrs Lim said their Malaysian friend managed to flee from his assailant, who then returned to join the others in attacking the couple.

"We almost made it home together safely. If only Ah Shun (what Mrs Lim calls her husband) had stayed away from trouble," she said.

Mr Lim's older brother, cleaner Lim Eng Tong, 48, said the younger Mr Lim always had a bad temper and was "rash and violent".

But he agreed that his brother had turned over a new leaf after he met and married Mrs Lim.

His brother was earning only $700 a month as a cleaner, he said. But he wanted to "earn more for the family" and would do as much overtime work as possible so his pay could hit $1,000 a month.

"It's just sad that he was a nosy parker who could not keep his nose out of secret society dealings," he said in Mandarin to The New Paper at the wake yesterday.

Mrs Lim was calm and composed at the wake yesterday, although she said that she was "very tired".

"I was very happy with Ah Shun. We almost had a child together. I lost the baby in a miscarriage last year. If that baby had survived, there would be someone to carry on his name," she said sadly.

Mrs Lim's neighbours in Block 677A, Jurong West Street 64, said the couple lived with two teenage daughters from MrsLim's previous marriage.

Neighbours Madam Chen, 46, a cleaner, and housewife Madam Ina, 39, both said the couple's relationship was rocky when they moved into the flat in late 2008.

"Mr Lim loved to drink. He kept cans of beer in the house, and would shout at his wife when he got drunk late at night," said Madam Chen.

She said the couple's quarrels would last into the wee hours and she could often hear the sound of doors banging and glass shattering.