"There were small groups who would discuss changing the leadership over cups of tea, " says a Johor delegate.

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South Johor's Ch'ng favors Affin Holdings, owned by the cash-rich military pension fund.

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An UMNO Johor leader freely admits that the editors got into trouble because they had strayed from the official line.

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He explained he had not visited Johor since he stepped down as prime minister in 1990, and his view of the dangers there was based on press reports.

ECONOMIST: Lee Kuan Yew: an apology

His government also hauled Singapore before two different international tribunals, over both Pedra Blanca and a Singaporean land-reclamation scheme along the Johor strait, the narrow channel separating the two countries.

ECONOMIST: A truce across the Johor strait

Mr Tang had said he feared for his safety in Singapore, and he left for Johor Bahru , the Malaysian city just over the causeway from Singapore, before going on to London.

ECONOMIST: Lee Kuan Yew: an apology

With more energy than expertise, the Yaps suffered many disasters--the most devastating in 1989 when flooding flushed many thousands of fish out of their ponds and sent them squiggling toward the Straits of Johor.

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But, of all places, he went to Johor.

ECONOMIST: Lee Kuan Yew: an apology

Ever since it was revealed last month that Singapore's senior minister, Lee Kuan Yew, had made rude comments about the Malaysian state of Johor (which he said was crime-ridden), Malaysian leaders have been acting huffily hurt.

ECONOMIST: Malaysia

Singapore, another major market, is restricting purchases to 28 appro ved farms in neighboring Johor state. (Although the death of a Singapore abattoir worker roused concern, the Lion City has since declared itself free of the virus.) Domestic sales of pork have dropped by 70%, as have prices.

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