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

The most heated arguments concern the price of the water Singapore buys from Malaysia and sovereignty over a small rock in the Singapore strait, known as Pedra Blanca or Pulau Batu Putih, depending on your point of view.

ECONOMIST: A truce across the Johor strait