Goh, 63, who will step down Thursday in favor of his deputy Lee Hsien Loong, 52, received a standing ovation when he appeared at the National Stadium ahead of a traditional evening parade culminating in a fireworks show.

He also got a congratulatory handshake from Lee's father, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, 80, who had stepped down 14 years ago in favor of Goh, launching the wealthy city-state's tradition of well-scripted, orderly transitions.

Goh said the elder statesman Lee commended him for a job "well done" and "of course, coming from Senior Minister, who had also done this job before and who had bowed out at the right time for me, it was in a sense a pleasant gesture on his part."

In a news conference after the celebration, Goh added that he felt "a little emotional" toward the end of the parade at the 55,000-seat stadium when he realized it was to be his last as prime minister.

Goh, a former shipping executive who steered Singapore through some of its most successful as well as trying years, will tender his formal resignation Tuesday to President S.R. Nathan.

Lee, who is also finance minister and chairman of the central bank, will be asked to form the new government and then release his cabinet list.

Both Goh and the elder Lee have been asked to remain in the cabinet but their exact roles have yet to be announced by the new prime minister, who will be sworn in on Thursday at the Istana state complex.

Singapore has been ruled by the People's Action Party (PAP) since it gained independence on August 9, 1965 after being ejected from the Malaysian federation.

Goh said the most satisfying moment of his 14 years as prime minister was "about now" when "you know that you can hand over the governance of a country to a group of younger people, and they are in a good position to take Singapore to greater heights."

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