Two Singaporean men were arrested on Monday for two separate online threat incidents, said a police statement Wednesday

The first man is a 40-year-old who is alleged to have threatened Reform Party secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam. Mr Jeyaretnam had lodged a police report during the Punggol East by-election after receiving anonymous threats to harm him and his family.

Separately, a 29-year-old man was arrested in connection with a police report lodged by former Nominated MP Calvin Cheng. Mr Cheng made the report last weekend after seeing a comment on a Facebook page threatening to kill and burn him. It was in response to an article he wrote on the Punggol East by-election, titled Do We Need Another Workers' Party MP?.

Mr Cheng said on Wednesday: "After his arrest, the man reached out to me by e-mail to apologise and express his contrition. I believe he is sincere." He added that the man said he did not mean it. But Mr Cheng told him that the page on which the comment was posted, Occupy Singapore, has more than 7,000 followers, and that one of them may have acted on the "incitement".

"The man now understands. I hope the police will take this into consideration and treat him with leniency," said Mr Cheng.

Mr Jeyaretnam declined to comment. Last week, a 23-year-old man was also arrested in connection with Mr Jeyaretnam's case.