A civil rights group has condemned the Kuala Lumpur City Hall as being myopic and irrelevant in attempting to censor a play by the Instant Caf Theatre company and failing that, banning them from future performances altogether.

Penang-based social reform movement Aliran said the high-handed action by City Hall showed that it is no longer focused on providing services to the public and instead, it seems to be acting on the "whims and fancies of the ruling coalition politicians to suppress freedom of expression and assembly".

"City Hall, whose councillors are unelected and unaccountable to the public, cannot claim to be our moral guardians. What was it in the script that was deemed to be so 'sensitive'?

"What did City Hall public relations officer Sarifuddin Ibrahim mean when he advised Instant Caf to conduct its performances in a more 'ethnical and decent manner and not to cause uneasiness to the public'?" the organisation asked.

Aliran described the move of City Hall to shut down ICT as "appalling" since the move was in response to a single complaint published in Utusan Malaysia on July 11.

"(The reader) sounds more like a ruling coalition supporter with a closed mind and no sense of humour. But what about the thousands of other satisfied Malaysians who thronged to ICT's sell out shows for ten days for July 8? Since they did not complain, surely the show should be viewed positively."

Blow for artistic freedom

The latest instalment by the Instant Caf, titled The 2nd First Bolehwood Awards - The Director's Cut, parodied a number of recent events and government policies, ranging from the scandal over the distribution of a pornographic film involving Malaysia Airlines crew to the government's use of the Internal Security Act to suppress dissent.

The show was seen by more 2,000 theatre goers during eight performances held at The Actors Studio's Bangsar venue. It was to continue at a club in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday before it was stopped by City Hall officials.

Following the complaint by the Utusan Malaysia reader, City Hall issued a letter to Instant Caf demanding that five elements from the script to be taken out but the latter refused after consulting its lawyers.

City Hall also slapped the theatre company with a RM10,000 fine for non-compliance and announced that permits for future productions will not be issued.

Defending Instant Caf's decision, Aliran said the performance was meant to look at Malaysian life satirically, and to educate the public about current issues using humour as a tool.

"They force us to look at ourselves and laugh at our idiosyncrasies and weaknesses. They educate us on current issues in a hilarious way and instead of being thankful, City Hall tries to suppress such informal education and artistic expression.

"(This) is a blow for artistic freedom and the flowering of the arts in the country," it said.

Election worries?

Aliran said that City Hall's demands for the change of script was also silly and ridiculous since it would leave the theatre group with nothing left to perform.

"It is tantamount to rewriting the script. Why must government policies and agencies be beyond criticism and satire? Has this anything to do with the general election around the corner, leading to 'uneasiness' on the part of the government about critical performances?"

In addition, Aliran also suggested that City Hall focus their attention on other more pressing matters that have received public criticism.

"There have been numerous other public complaints about City Hall's shoddiness and inefficiency but these have not been acted upon with the same speed. Neither has City Hall disciplined its staff who have failed to live up to public expectations," the organisation added.

This is not the first time that Instant Caf has run into problems with the authorities. A previous performance - The Baltimore Waltz - was censored because of a particular scene alluding to sexual intercourse.

Other performance groups have also met with similar difficulties. City Hall last year banned the Five Arts Centre from performing the popular play, The Vagina Monologues. Authorities first cited references to the Quran as the basis for rejection and later found fault with the use of the term 'vagina'.