Ahead of the leadership transition on May 15, Lee said during his 20 years as prime minister, he made progress on several issues with different counterparts from Malaysia, including the Pulau Batu Puteh dispute and the Malayan Railway land.

“For example, with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he was prime minister when the Pulau Batu Puteh judgment at the International Court of Justice was published. We discussed it, I talked to him, and we decided we would both accept this, move on and talk about the next stage,” he said today.

Lee, who became Singapore’s third prime minister in 2004, has worked with a long list of Malaysian prime ministers, starting with Abdullah, then Najib Razak, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Muhyiddin Yassin, Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Anwar Ibrahim.

The Singapore head of government mentioned that with Anwar, the two sides have been discussing significant cooperation, including the rapid transit system (RTS) link, which will connect Johor with Singapore.

“We are talking about other issues, we can be cooperative but also sensitive. Airspace, the maritime boundaries, water; these are things which need to be discussed. We have not settled them, so there is work to be done by my successor,” he said.

Lee emphasised that ties with neighbouring countries like Malaysia will always involve “complicated relationships” due to the potential for differing perspectives or points of contention.

“We both know that, and both try our best not to collide, because we can do many things together,” he added.

Lee will relinquish his office on May 15 to give way to his successor, current deputy prime minister and finance minister Lawrence Wong, who is set to be sworn in as Singapore’s fourth prime minister the same day.