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.