GE14 | Singapore Ikea will give their Malaysian employees a paid day off on May 9 so they can return to vote in the 14th general election (GE14).

“We take our social responsibilities seriously and we want to enable our co-workers to take individual responsibility too.

“This benefit will make it a little easier for them to exercise the right to vote in Malaysia’s election. Anyone needing more than one day will be able to apply for annual leave,” Ikea Southeast Asia benefits and employment manager Aldys Kong said, as reported by Channel News Asia today.

Singapore Ikea has about 80 Malaysians in its employ.

Another Singaporean company, bus operator Go-Ahead, said it would “facilitate arrangements” for its Malaysian staff, “conditional upon the complete fulfilment of our operational requirements”.

'We will facilitate feasible arrangements'

“Our shift schedules are planned such that most colleagues will have ample time to return home and cast their votes before or after a shift.

“Where necessary, we will facilitate feasible arrangements,” said the spokesperson for Go-Ahead.

The polling date for GE14 has been fixed for May 9, a Wednesday, which has been declared a public holiday for Malaysia.

As for Sabah and Sarawak, the Prime Minister’s Office said the state governments need to declare their own holidays under the Holidays Ordinance of both states respectively.

The public holiday announcement came in the wake of widespread criticism over the Election Commission’s (EC) decision to fix the polling date on a workday.

Electoral monitoring group Bersih had accused the EC of trying to suppress voter turnout by setting the polling day on Wednesday.

Section 25(3) of the Election Offences Act 1954 requires employers to allow their employees a reasonable period of time for voting.

Yesterday, Malaysian businessperson Ngo Hea Ong, who runs a jewellery business in Singapore, also announced that he would give his Malaysian staff sufficient time off to return to cast their votes.

Caretaker human resources minister Richard Riot Jaem has also urged employers to allow their workers to vote on May 9.