The police are investigating a doctored photo of a banner which contains a manipulated image of MacPherson MP Tin Pei Ling wearing revealing clothes, after Ms Tin made a police report.

The image in question is a digitally altered version of the original banner put up in Ms Tin's ward.

The original banner bears a greeting by Ms Tin, wishing residents "a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year" in English and Chinese, alongside a photo of her in a red-and-white outfit.

In the altered photo of the banner making the rounds online, the festive message is replaced with one encouraging residents to "vote PAP (People's Action Party) for prosperity and power" and "enjoy happy savings with Government U-Save rebates".

The edited message in English is accompanied by an altered photo of Ms Tin wearing revealing red clothes.

Ms Tin, a PAP MP, spoke out against those behind the doctored image on Facebook on Tuesday, saying: "It is clear that the person or party behind this has no respect for women."

In her post, she put up a photo of the original banner and urged the public not to circulate the doctored image. She decided not to put up the fake version because "it is so crass".

Ms Tin told The Straits Times on Tuesday that she found the incident with the fake image "very puzzling". "The content of the doctored banner has nothing to do with my original Chinese New Year banner," she said.

"I received a number of inquiries (on Tuesday) from friends, as well as people I don't know, through messages and e-mails, asking me if the doctored version of the banner was true - and it was clearly not true."

She then put up the Facebook post and made a police report on the matter.