The former health minister said Wong, like Hsien Loong, was disconnected from the “wounds and baggage” stemming from Singapore’s expulsion from Malaysia six decades ago.

“Hsien Loong and Najib Razak, for instance, were part of a generation without historical baggage, unlike Dr Mahathir Mohamad and (Lee) Kuan Yew.

“With this baggage, all discussions between the two countries were premised on mistrust, due to wounds that had yet to heal completely,” he said in his “Keluar Sekejap” podcast.

Khairy, who is an associate senior fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, said that in 2011, Najib and his counterpart, Hsien Loong, resolved the contentious land issue involving Malayan Railway and the redevelopment of the Ophir-Rochor corridor, “thanks to there being no historical baggage”.

Khairy said Wong’s pragmatic leadership, coupled with the recent success of joint projects such as the rapid transit system link (RTS Link) project and the Johor-Singapore special economic zone (JS-SEZ) could lead to greater things.

“When there is confidence built upon from JS-SEZ, and the resumption of the high-speed rail project, this could lead to complex issues being resolved.

“The only thing we have to manage is the ‘sharp elbow’ feature of Singapore,” he said.

Khairy’s co-host, Shahril Hamdan, said “sharp elbows” referred to Singapore wanting to “win everything”.

“They want people who they can do business with, not in the financial sense, but one they can deal with,” Shahril said.

Khairy said he was also impressed by Wong’s approach to geopolitics.

“Wong said if the big powers continue to pressure Southeast Asian countries, then we would push back. This is the clearest signal by a Southeast Asian leader so far,” he said.