PM's Twitter account among top 20 here

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has been singled out for his social media savviness by online microblogging service Twitter.

The social networking platform called Mr Lee "a great example of a world leader on Twitter", noting how he uses the site "to show his human side and provide behind-the-scenes access to connect with the average Singaporean".

Mr Lee often tweets updates and photos of himself at major events, and shares his "inner thoughts on Singapore's way of life", Twitter said in a special mention, while releasing official statistics about Singaporeans' use of Twitter yesterday.

It added that he also takes the chance to show his humorous side, posting a selfie with his own wax figure at the new Madame Tussauds Singapore.

The service ranked Mr Lee 18th among Singapore-based Twitter accounts with the highest number of followers.

Mr Lee is the only politician in the top 20. He has about 111,000 Twitter followers.

Singapore-based fashion and lifestyle online portal Wardrobe by Daryl Chin, Social Media EditorTrends Fashion has the most Twitter followers - at 535,000.

Mr Lee's top tweet this year was his congratulatory message to Indonesian President Joko Widodo on his election win, which was retweeted 1,929 times.

A close second was when Mr Lee told parents during his National Day Rally speech in August that "no homework is not a bad thing", in a post that had 1,761 retweets. He added: "It is good for children to play, and learn through play."

Mr Lee's next three-most popular tweets were of his "shocked and saddened" reaction to the MH17 crash in Ukraine, and his selfies with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, as well as with his own wax figure.

This article by The Straits Times was published in MyPaper, a free, bilingual newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.