While many believed the former leader's son, Lee Hsien Loong, would quickly take over after Goh became prime minister in 1990, Goh instead carved out a reputation as an enduring and well-loved leader who calmly guided the city-state through some tough times.

Singapore's projected economic growth of up to nine percent this year provides a fitting sendoff for the 63-year-old former shipping executive who had vowed to step down only after ensuring the economy could meet future challenges.

Goh announced over the weekend that the younger Lee, 52, will be sworn in as his successor on August 12.

When he rose to power, Goh was greeted with doubts over how he could fit into the oversized shoes of the elder Lee, 80, who ruled for 31 years and became an Asian icon after transforming the tiny island into one of the region's wealthiest economies.

Saying he had his own shoe size to fit into, the soft-spoken Goh proved skeptics wrong when he shepherded the economy through several years of high-flying growth before the onset of the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

And he did it with a folksy, down-to-earth style that endeared him to an ethnically diverse public that is now seemingly reluctant to let him go.

"Goh has shown that Singapore can now be successful without an authoritarian leader. He has shown that strength need not be incompatible with humility," Asian affairs commentator and author Michael Backman told AFP.

"He has exceeded all expectations... The measure of Goh's success is that few Singaporeans seem to want him to go."

K. Kesevapany, director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, explained Goh's particular appeal.

"Goh is affable and able to create consensus in the government. He is well-liked among Singaporeans, who perceived him as 'one of us'," Kesevapany said.

"PM Goh's greatest legacy is the contribution that he has made to a progressive, prosperous and future-looking Singapore.

"Despite difficult times, Goh was able to 'stay the course', build on the successes of Lee Kuan Yew, and move the country steadily forward. Singapore has been politically stable, economically competitive and socially harmonious under Goh's leadership."

Goh's steady hand helped Singapore recover from the 1997-98 financial crisis faster than its neighbours did and weather a series of other storms, among them a recession in 2001, terrorist threats, the impact of the US-led war against Iraq and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic last year.

Under his watch, the government also undertook a major restructuring of the economy to cope with the threats and opportunities posed by fast-rising giants China and India, as well as other countries in the region.

Singapore also negotiated a web of free-trade agreements with major partners as part of a grand strategy to expand beyond the small domestic market.

A midnight game of golf between Goh and then US president Bill Clinton in Brunei in 2000 led to last year's signing of a landmark US-Singapore free-trade accord -- Washington's first with an Asian country.

Singapore has also signed similar accords with Australia, Japan and New Zealand, while negotiations are under way with India and South Korea, among others.

Regionally, Goh became a champion of greater economic integration within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which aims to create a European Union-style single market by 2020.

On the geopolitical front, Goh threw Singapore's support behind the United States in the global war against terror, further cementing its alliance with the world's only superpower.

Goh joined the civil service after earning a master's degree in economics from Williams College in Massachusetts, and later rose to become a top executive for Singapore shipping giant Neptune Orient Lines.

Like a number of successful business executives in the island-republic, he was drafted by the ruling People's Action Party and won a parliament seat in 1976 representing the suburban Marine Parade constituency.

Within a year, he was named minister of state for finance and later held other positions in the ministries of trade, education and health.

Goh was serving as deputy prime minister and minister of defence when Lee Kuan Yew picked him as his successor, setting the stage for what would turn out to be a pretty long stint for a seat warmer.

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