Li, 31, is a nephew of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and the second son of Lee’s younger brother Hsien Yang. He is a vice-president of an information technology company.

Heng, 27, a veterinarian, made the announcement in a posting on his personal Instagram account yesterday. “Today I marry my soul mate. Looking forward to a lifetime of moments like this with (Huanwu),” he wrote from Cape Town, South Africa.

Li also posted photographs on his Facebook account, under the headline “Safari before our big day”, from Mana Pools National Park, a wildlife conservation area in northern Zimbabwe.

News of their marriage was also carried on several Singapore alternative news sites.

Last July, photographs of Li and Heng were featured in an exhibition with a LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) theme called Out In Singapore.

Same-sex marriages are legal in South Africa. Last week, Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalise gay marriage.