Be civil and respectful in discussions: Lawrence Wong

The recent British royals' visit to Queenstown and the televised forum with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had drawn a vigorous response online.

But to Senior Minister of State for Education, and Information, Communications and the Arts Lawrence Wong, they were cause for "some heaviness in my heart".

This is because residents who turned up to welcome Prince William and his wife Catherine were mocked online for taking part in a "wayang". And People's Action Party members among the audience in the forum with Mr Lee were singled out and criticised.

In a Facebook posting on Monday, Mr Wong expressed dismay at what he saw as the potential for deep political divisions in Singapore society. "Politics is important," he wrote. "But surely we do not want to end up in a situation where every activity or conversation in this country becomes politicised, where our people are polarised by political beliefs, where Singaporeans are set against Singaporeans based on creed or political affiliation."