MIRI: The Government wants to cut down on the number of “extra” public holidays at national and state level to improve the nation’s productivity and enhance the delivery system.
The most important religious and cultural festivals would be retained as compulsory public holidays while those deemed to be unnecessary may be done away with.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said that although there were already too many public holidays, some state governments and certain quarters were still clamouring for more.
“We are not going to increase the number. On the contrary, we are working towards reducing them,” he said.
“There are already 16 public holidays at national level every year. We should reduce them to improve competitiveness.”
There are also state holidays and extra days attached to holidays that fall on weekends, as well as additional holidays declared by state governments for specific events like the birthdays of their heads of state or sultans.
“There are more meaningful and productive ways to celebrate important events and occasions instead of just taking the day off,” Ongkili said yesterday.
He said Sarawak and Sabah want Sept 16 to be included as a national public holiday to mark the day Malaysia was formed, and there had also been calls from ethnic groups for their traditional festivals to be recognised as public holidays.
Ongkili said that while the Government respected the wishes of these quarters, it felt it was more important for the government machinery to serve the people better.
However, he stressed that no time frame had been fixed to reduce the number of public holidays.
