Singapore's Mediacorp’s Channel 5 has apologised for what it admits to be “offensive” references made against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in an episode of its ‘Ok Chope!’ programme.

"Channel 5 and the production team behind OK Chope! wish to sincerely apologise to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak for a segment on last week’s episode,” Mediacorp’s chief customer officer Debra Soon said in a statement today.

“Last week's episode included references to the Malaysian prime minister which were in poor taste and offensive.

“We have thus pulled it from repeat telecast with immediate effect. We apologise unreservedly for this mistake.”

Mediacorp’s Channel 5 had aired the episode in question on March 29. In the episode, a panel of comedians was asked to complete the headline of a news story involving Najib.

The panel, comprising Sam See, Najip Ali, Rishi Budhrani and Mike Kassim offered various tongue-in-cheek answers.

During the programme, its host Vernette Lopez had asked the panel to complete the following headline "Najib slams ___ for threatening Malaysia's progress".

Among the responses offered were Najib slams "himself", Najib slams "Beauty and the Beast" and Najib slams the "Bomoh's heads with his own coconuts".

In the media statement issued by Mediacorp, Najip also offered his apology over his remarks.

“Over the last few days I have reflected on the comments I made during a segment on a Channel 5 comedy show which referenced (the) Malaysian prime minister. I realise how insensitive and callous I was.

“I would like to apologise unreservedly to the Malaysian prime minister. I beg his forgiveness and that of my viewers and friends,” said Najip.

'OK Chope!' is a weekly live show featuring comedians providing humorous takes on news and current affairs.

Malaysian artiste groups, however, did not see anything humorous in the particular episode.

Persatuan Seniman Malaysia secretary-general Hafiz Nafiah threatened to lodge a police report over the episode while Angkatan Karyawan Nasionalis (Akar) deputy president Helme Hanafi said the programme clearly intended to insult Najib on purpose.

He also proposed that the Home Ministry impose a travel ban on the Singapore artistes who appeared on the programme.

Meanwhile, Malaysian political cartoonist Zunar, short for Zukiflee Anwar Ul-Haque, weighed in on the issue.

"There is nothing wrong with satire as it is healthy for any democratic country," he told Malaysiakini via Whatsapp.

He added that it was "not an issue" for Singaporean comedians to lampoon issues from Malaysia as the internet made such news openly accessible.

"Malaysian comedians and satirists should (not be afraid to) comment on Najib and the 1MDB scandal as they are hot topics," he said.