The city-state, Southeast Asia's richest economy despite its lack of natural resources, risks "going down" if the new leadership led by his own son Lee Hsien Loong becomes sloppy, said the 80-year-old former prime minister.

Lee, now an adviser to the new cabinet, is widely credited with transforming Singapore from a seedy Asian port into an industrial and technological powerhouse hosting some 6000 multinational corporations.

Its key companies like Singapore Airlines and Singapore Telecommunications, both of them state-backed, are seen as part of what has come to be known overseas as Singapore Inc.

"A more laid-back generation takes over and will not deliver in time and doesn't respond with the same integrity and determination as the hungrier generation," Lee told a business conference called the Global Brand Forum, painting a scenario of decline.

"We can become sloppy ... we can go down," Lee said, adding that his task now was to make sure the worst-case scenario did not happen.

"What am I here for? To tell them that these are gold standards," Lee said.

"And the business of the next generation, this third generation of leadership, is to make sure that that does not happen," he said.

Lee last week took on the special role of "minister mentor" in his son's cabinet, while former prime minister Goh Chok Tong was appointed senior minister. The two former leaders will be the chief advisers of the younger Lee.

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