(FORTUNE Magazine) – If he weren't the boss's son, Lee Hsien Loong probably wouldn't be a minister of Singapore at the age of 33. But he almost certainly could have made it into the cabinet eventually. The son of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew -- and a probable successor to his father someday -- has both brains and flair. Lee Hsien Loong graduated from Cambridge with first honors -- similar to summa cum laude in the U.S. -- as did his father and mother (his first was in math, theirs in law). He then went on to earn a graduate degree in public administration at Harvard and to serve in Singapore's military, where he became chief of the general staff. Singaporeans still refer to him as brigadier general. In 1984 he was elected to parliament. At 6-foot-1 (a couple of inches taller than his father), he cuts a commanding but not imperious figure. He laughs easily and enjoys swimming and jogging. By Western standards he's no laissez-faire liberal. Like his father, he believes that Singapore is too small and fragile to allow citizens to push and pull any way they like. But he thinks government doesn't have to be quite as overbearing as Singapore is now. He praises, for example, a recent relaxation of school rules that allows even unpromising students to sign up for an academic rather than a vocational course if they like. The younger Lee has his father's gift for oratory and he unwraps it often. It's clear he'd love his father's job someday. That probably won't be soon. Lee Kuan Yew is the only prime minister the tiny city-state has had. He has been running Singapore since 1959, when it gained independence from Britain. He was only 35 when he became prime minister, and he doesn't seem to be tiring of the work. Although he once promised to follow the example of many corporate chief executives and quit at 65 -- in three years -- he's no longer talking that way. After Lee goes, Goh Chok Tong, 44, the first deputy prime minister, will likely get Lee's backing for at least a brief turn in the top office. But unless Lee Hsien Loong slips on his fast track, he will be a major power in Singapore for a long time to come.