In response to media queries, the police confirmed in a statement on July 7 that reports were lodged against Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, but the reports did not disclose any offence.

The reports were lodged in relation to his comments on whether Singaporeans were ready for a non-Chinese Prime Minister.

Heng's comments were that a segment of the population was happy to have an individual from a minority race as Singapore’s Prime Minister, but the older generation was not ready, according to a report by Today.

They were made in response to a question posed to him at a student’s forum at the Nanyang Technological University on March 28, 2019.

The police said that they consulted the Attorney-General’s Chambers, which "advised that no offence is disclosed".

The statement said that Heng’s remarks, in the context they were made, do not evidence any intent to wound anyone’s racial feelings or promote enmity between different races.

Top photo by Zhangxin Zheng