The menteri besar, Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, said the government will allow the producers to present the arguments regarding the film to enable a re-evaluation of the ban.

He said the ban remains in place, based on the trailer, which he said was deemed to be inappropriate in terms of the religious and cultural norms of Asian society.

Samsuri said Chong’s argument was that the trailer is not a full representation of the movie. “So, let’s wait to see what kind of appeal or justification he will give us. We will give him space so as to evaluate the arguments to be presented,” he said.

Chong was reported yesterday to have said that the film had been passed by the Film Censorship Board based on the full movie and not just the trailer. “If it had contained ‘soft porn’ as alleged, it would not have passed censorship,” he was quoted as saying.

The movie is scheduled to be released for general viewing on March 9.

Samsuri rejected the view that the state government revealed a backward mentality by banning the film. He said it is the responsibility of the government to protect the morals of the people in order to preserve harmony.

“We want to keep Terengganu in a state of progress, blessing and prosperity. It is this blessing that we want to guard so that the people are protected from immoral behaviour,” he said.