On a cool, breezy evening when there was nothing in the air except for the scent of fish and the call of prayer from the nearby mosque, Mr Nasir Harun stepped onto his boat by the jetty near a fishing village in Johor, and sailed into the open waters.
As the 36-year-old cast his fishing net into the waters adjacent to the Tuas Second Link bridge, his eyes darted across the waterway to a Singapore Police Force (SPF) coast guard vessel gliding past.
He also had to constantly keep his focus on a string of coloured water buoys marking the maritime border between both Malaysia and Singapore.
“We would never cross beyond those buoys into Singapore if we can help it. Sometimes due to motor failure or strong current, we may drift over the other side accidentally but we have no intention to do this,” he told CNA.
Like his father, Mr Nasir makes a living combing the Straits of Johor for crabs, prawns and fish.
But in recent years, fishermen like him from the village of Kampung Pendas on the southern tip of Johor say stepped-up patrols by enforcement agencies along the borders with Singapore has made work “disruptive”.
“We really don’t want to cause any trouble with Singapore authorities or anyone else, we just want to earn our living quietly,” said Mr Nasir.
He added that in recent years, the space for fishing in the Johor Strait has seemingly diminished due to land reclamation work off the southern coast of the Malaysian state for residential and industrial projects.
This has forced fishermen further out into the sea, in close quarters with the international boundary line with Singapore, demarcated with colourful buoys.
Faced with depleting catch due to the reclamation activity these fishermen say they also have to navigate the smaller space and ensure that they do not inadvertently cross the international boundary into Singapore waters.
Moreover, the increase in land reclamation activity due to the industrial development of southern Johor has led to fears that the fishing trade in the Strait could no longer exist one day, marine experts say.