The censorship board today clarified that no ban has been issued on the Jim Carrey comedy flick Bruce Almighty till now, while certain quarters want the movie canned for being sacrilegious.

When contacted, chairperson of the Malaysian censorship board Lukman Said cleared the confusion surrounding the status of the movie.

"As of yet, there has be no change to the approval given to cinemas," he said.

Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Hueng ( right ) reportedly said the movie will not be shown in cinemas here while Deputy Information Minister Donald Lim asked the censorship board to review its approval.

In calling for the ban, Malay-based non-government organisation Teras and the Kedah Muslim Scholars Association (PUK) deemed the movie as offensive.

They also stressed that it should be banned in all Muslim and multi-religious countries for its "stupidities and insults".

"We urge the authorities to take the issue seriously as the movie would offend the Muslim population in the country... insulting, as it were, to the sacredness of Islam beliefs and mocking the sublimity and majesty of God," said the two groups in a joint statement.

"No religion would ever accept the stupidities and insults contained in the movie... The government need not deliberate on the issue, because it (the movie) clearly goes against religious principles, national laws and universal human and civilized values," they added.

Inconsistent stand

Meanwhile, Keadilan vice-president Dr Xavier Jayakumar said it would be "childish and immature" to ban the movie.

"What is there to ban? Nobody takes such movies seriously until politicians do. People should be able to make up their own minds," he added when contacted.

He said that a ban would also reflect the censorship board's inconsistency since television programmes with similar content were allowed to be screened.

"TV is full of such things. If you're going to ban such movies, then you're going to ban everything containing references to God, the devil, angels, vampires, and so on." he noted.

The movie, which is to open in cinemas here on Aug 7, has Jim Carrey questioning God about his misfortunes. Following this, God appears to him in the form of a janitor and gives him divine powers for a week to see if he can do a better job.