Hong Leong Bank Malaysia's advertisement aired in Hong Kong has irked netizens who have called the commercial racist.

The video, which Malaysiakini sighted circulating on Youtube, depicts a Chinese actor wearing dark orange makeup and a curly wig as he plays a clumsy maid 'Maria'. The same actor also plays her employer.

According to an Astro Awani report today, the advertisement has caused an outrage in the social media and has been condemned by domestic workers' rights groups.

The bank reportedly issued a statement saying they "regretted" the commercial and has since withdrawn it, but did not apologise.

“At no time did Hong Leong … intend to offend any person or be to any extent discriminatory on grounds of race, sex or otherwise," the bank’s spokesperson Norlina Yunus said the report quoting South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The report said the advertisement has fuelled growing concerns about the treatment of domestic workers and of the dangers of racial stereotyping.

“You are making comedy out of someone, out of a community. For (Hong Kong residents) it’s funny, but what they don’t realise is what’s funny is actually racist,” SCMP quoted Eni Lestari, spokesperson for the Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body saying.

AFP meanwhile quoted The Equal Opportunities Commission criticising the commercial, saying advertisers should ensure respect for human dignity, regardless of race and ethnicity.

The advertisement is another black mark after Amnesty International last November issued a statement slamming Hong Kong's “slavery-like” conditions faced by some of the city’s domestic workers.