The government will examine the number of public holidays in the country as civil servants prepare for the introduction of a five-day working week.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said the country's 14 holidays, in addition to the five-day week to start on July 1, were excessive and would make workers less competitive, the New Straits Times reported yesterday.

The government announced in May that it would cut down the five-and-a-half-day working week which includes Saturday mornings, saying that the move would increase family-bonding and boost domestic tourism.

Longer hours

But Najib said the five-day week would not reduce workers' total hours, as civil servants would have to work longer hours each day.

More than 60 percent of Malaysia's population are Muslim Malays, while some 26 percent are Chinese and eight percent are Indians.

The combination has resulted in major religious and cultural occasions from each community being gazetted as holidays for the whole country.