The succession to Lee was clear after handing over the premiership in 1990 (at the surprisingly young age of 66) to a trusted associate, Goh Chok Tong, he groomed his eldest son, Brigadier General Lee Hsien Loong, for the job. After serving as Singapore s trade minister, finance minister, and deputy prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong took over the top post in 2004.

It worked, and Lee Hsien Loong has by all accounts done a good job as Prime Minister, whatever the explanation for his rise. There is no current risk to Singapore s political stability, and the younger Lee is only 63 years old he could remain in office for a long time to come.

Anticipating a skeptical public reaction when Singapore raised the salaries of government officials in 2007, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that he would forgo the raise himself. In the aftermath of the recent financial crisis, some business executives voluntarily reduced their salaries as a means of communicating concern for their employees and public opinion.