Right now, he is probably boarding the corporate jet, one wife, two kids and 4As in tow, winging his way to a plum posting in Shanghai, New York, or London.

Or he is poring over policy papers, or medical research books, or legal briefs, secluded in an office with a big window. Politics is far from his mind.

Wherever he is, it will not be an easy search for Singapore's fourth prime minister.

The weight of the search falls on the shoulders of Dr Ng Eng Hen.

He is coordinating the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) recruitment efforts for the next General Election, due to be held by 2011.

While his task is not to find the next PM per se, he has to put together a team of new MPs. From past precedent, the number will be in the 20-25 range.

From that group will have to emerge future ministers, who will then have to 'decide among themselves who is primus inter pares - first among equals', as Dr Ng puts it.

This political manhunt is 'the top-most priority' for the PAP, he adds.

The party's recruitment process thus far has relied on its network of contacts. The net is cast wide, covering the civil service, the corporate sector, and professions such as law, banking and medicine.

The promising ones are then put through tea sessions, interviews, and even psychological tests.

Election after election, this process has unearthed hundreds of MPs, some of whom have become top ministers.

What makes the latest search different is the need to find someone who can become PM after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong retires. Incumbent ministers are mostly around the same age as PM Lee or even older.

Another factor is the rapidly changing nature of the electorate. As MP Indranee Rajah puts it, the next PM must be 'a man of his time', attuned to a generation that is better educated, more well-travelled, more demanding.

So will the PAP's recruitment process have to be refined? What assumptions might have to be re-examined?

Key attributes

SOME fundamentals are set in stone. Any PAP candidate, says Dr Ng, will have to be 'trustworthy, capable and caring'.

'These are non-negotiable,' he says. 'If you don't have these, you're not on the slate.'

Another attribute critical for the next PM: He will need to be a 'global citizen'.

Whether it is about inflation, the price of rice or free-trade agreements, Singapore is so 'globally linked that its leaders need to be internationally exposed and globally aware', says Dr Ng, who is the Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence. 'That will become increasingly important.' 

Read the full interview in today's Straits Times.