On the sliver of the Indian Ocean visible through a gap in newly rain-soaked tropical foliage lies a flotilla of container ships of all shapes and sizes, all queuing to get in or out of the world’s busiest commercial port. Framing this vista are the floor to ceiling windows at the Capella Hotel on the island of Sentosa, an imperial Japanese prisoner of war camp during the second World War and the site of former US president Donald Trump’s historic summit with North Korean premier, Kim Jong Un, in 2018. In the air-conditioned room behind those windows, someone who describes...