Johor regent: Move to other states if upset with weekend realignment

Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has told those who are not pleased with the decision to revert to a Saturday-Sunday weekend 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 without mentioning names.

Yesterday, Johor PAS leader Mohd Mazri Yahya said the Saturday-Sunday weekend is a “colonial legacy”.

He also agreed with a PKR lawmaker from Johor, Hassan Karim, who voiced his objection to the switch on Tuesday.

The Pasir Gudang MP said PKR advocated for the state to maintain Friday and Saturday as its days of rest, 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),” he added.

The vocal MP admitted that he had no power to change the decision but stressed that he still had the right to express his objection to the move.

Johor people’s wish

In his post, Tunku Ismail said the decision was made after taking into consideration the people of Johor's wish to spend more time with their families and the positive economic impact that would benefit them.

“With His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s consent and blessing, views of the Johor Islamic Religious Council, the state government, government agencies and the rakyat, I made the decision for Johor to have Saturday and Sunday as weekends again,” he added.

Johor has changed its official weekends several times.

The southern state saw its first Saturday and Sunday rest days in 1994 when Muhyiddin Yassin, who was then still Umno, was the menteri besar.

However, on Jan 1, 2014, state ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who is the current Agong, decided to revert to Johor’s traditional Friday-Saturday weekend.

Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah observe the Friday-Saturday weekend for both the government and private sectors.

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