He was publicly mentioned by Singapore 's first Prime Minister as one of the four men he considered as his successor .
He decided against Dhanabalan as he felt Singapore was ' not ready ' for a non-Chinese Prime Minister .
He was publicly mentioned by Singapore 's first Prime Minister as one of the four men he considered as his successor , but he decided against Dhanabalan as he felt Singapore was ' not ready ' for a non-Chinese Prime Minister .