PETALING JAYA: Johor’s decision for a Saturday-Sunday weekend will boost productivity by aligning operations of local companies with businesses beyond the state, says the head of a Johor business group.
Teh Kee Sin, founding president of the SME Association of South Johor, hopes the move will help local SMEs speed up their various dealings with the state government.
Most of the world rests on Saturday and Sunday. If our (off days) are on Friday and Saturday, it would make it hard for us to work with these international companies, he told FMT.
Teh said SMEs did not follow a state government decision in 2014 to have a Friday-Saturday weekend, as banks, local company headquarters, and customers did not work on Saturdays and Sundays.
We have to pay our staff overtime if they have to go to government offices on Sunday: it is not productive at all, he said.
Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching, who is Johor DAP chief, said the initiative would further boost trade, currently valued at RM753 billion or 29% of the country’s total trade last year.
Hopefully, public, private administrations, schools, as well as various other aspects for the Johor community as a whole will run more smoothly after this order is implemented later,
she said in a Facebook post.
Separately, Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah said the decision will facilitate business transactions, enhance competitiveness of companies in Johor and allow families to spend more time together.
The Regent of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, earlier today said the state would revert to a Saturday-Sunday weekend from Jan 1.
Johor menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the Johor mufti and relevant agencies will detail appropriate working hours, especially on Fridays, to ensure that Muslims have enough time to perform Friday prayers.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/10/07/new-johor-weekend-will-boost-productivity-says-business-leader/