A member of Singapore's ruling party has been forced to quit and is under police investigation after using a Facebook post to describe Muslim children in a school bus as terrorists in training.

NONE A police spokesperson told AFP today that they were investigating Jason Neo (left) , 30, after members of the public lodged complaints over the posting he made on the social networking site in February.

Local media reported that Neo was forced to quit the youth wing of the People's Action Party (PAP) after fellow members disowned his remarks.

The PAP has ruled Singapore since 1959 and its youth wing is open to members up to the age of 40.

The Straits Times newspaper today published a photo of the controversial Facebook posting made by Neo.

Under a picture of a green, white and yellow school bus ferrying what appeared to be Muslim children, some of them wearing skull caps, he wrote a caption that said: "Bus filled with young terrorist trainees?"

Party members denounced Neo, who issued a public apology before closing down his Facebook account, local media reported.

A volunteer at party branch

The Straits Times said Neo was a volunteer at the party branch in Sembawang, a northern suburb where he worked without any problems with Malay activists on the same team.

NONE Multi-ethnic Singapore, which suffered racial riots in the 1960s and is surrounded by Muslim neighbours Indonesia and Malaysia, takes a hardline against acts stoking racial and religious hatred.

Singapore's population is 74 percent ethnic Chinese, 13 percent Muslim Malay and nine percent Indian, with the rest made up of other immigrant groups.

Fostering racial hatred is punishable by a fine of up to S$5,000 (RM12,000) or imprisonment for up to three years, or both.

The city-state's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, has previously urged local Muslims to be "less strict on Islamic observances" to aid integration.

- AFP