Too many public holidays

There are too many public holidays being observed in the country and the government wants to cut the number down, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Maximus Ongkili.

And the reason for doing so - to improve the nation's productivity and enhance the delivery system.

The Star quoted the minister as saying in Miri yesterday that the government wants to cut down on the number of "extra" public holidays at national and state level

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.

Ongkili said that although there were already too many public holidays, some state governments and certain quarters were still clamouring for more.

Improve competitiveness

"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," he said, adding that no time frame had been fixed to reduce the number of public holidays.

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.

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.