REGENT of Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said any parties upset or dissatisfied with the decision to revert to a Saturday-Sunday weekend are welcome to move to other states.
"If there are parties upset or dissatisfied due to personal agendas, want to provoke the rakyat or have political interests, you are welcome to move to states that still have Friday and Saturday as weekends," he said in a Facebook post.
Tunku Ismail had recently announced that Johor would be reverting its weekend to Saturday and Sunday from the current Friday and Saturday weekend.
He said the weekend will be changed to Saturday and Sunday starting from Jan 1 next year.
“Following the consent and blessing from His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, and after considering the views of the Johor Islamic Religious Council (JAINJ), I would like to announce that starting Jan 1 2025, Johor’s weekend will be changed to Saturday and Sunday,“ he said.
He added that he had also decreed that Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi and the Johor Mufti discuss and study the matter thoroughly.
Following this Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim criticised the decision, saying that Friday is a holy day in Islam and highly regarded by Muslims worldwide.
“Maintaining Friday as a weekend day to honour the holy day for Muslims in Johor would not make the state be left behind (economically).
“Reverting to Sunday as a weekend and making Friday a working day was something the state had done a few years back," he said.
Johor PAS leader Mohd Mazri Yahya also agreed with Hassan and said the Saturday-Sunday weekend is a “colonial legacy”.
In his latest post, Tunku Ismail said the decision was made after considering the wishes of the people in Johor to spend more time with their families and the positive economic impact it would bring.
"With His Majesty King of Malaysia's consent and blessing, the views of the Johor Islamic Religious Council (JAINJ), the state government, government agencies and the rakyat, I decided for Johor to have Saturday and Sunday as weekends again," he added. - October 11, 2024
