Island in the sun

Mar distance: 219 km

St John's Island, 64 km. Who would've thought that:

• A tiny island could be so pretty?
• This island, previously used to hold those with cholera and then political dissidents, is now a holiday camp?
• Another island nearby could become a country, and when its first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew (LKY), died, the world's largest democracy, India, declares a day of mourning? And Australia and New Zealand pay homage to him in their parliament?
• While LKY was alive, British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited the former to learn how to govern.  A British Prime Minister learning from an ex-colony, five decades after independence?