Jan 6 day off thanks to change in weekend
JOHOR BARU: Civil servants in Johor will get an extra holiday on Jan 6 in conjunction with the shift to a Saturday-Sunday weekend.
An official circular about the replacement holiday dated Dec 23 was issued by the Johor State Secretary Office’s Human Resources Management Department.
State investment, trade, consumer affairs and human resources committee chairman Lee Ting Han confirmed the matter when contacted by The Star.
“The Johor government has agreed to fix Jan 6 as a special replacement holiday only for civil servants in the state in view of the transition period for the weekend shift,” said Lee briefly.
The circular states that the replacement holiday is due to the transition period between the last week of 2024 and first week of 2025, in which civil servants will be working for six days, including Friday.
It is learnt that schools will also be closed on that day but the special holiday will not affect the ongoing Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examinations.
On Oct 7, Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim announced that the state would change its weekends to Saturday and Sunday.
This followed the consent and blessings from His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, and after considering the views of the Johor Islamic Religious Council, he added.
This puts an end to the 11-year period in which Johor observed Friday and Saturday as its official rest days since Jan 1, 2014.
Back then, the change was implemented following a decree from Sultan Ibrahim in conjunction with his 55th birthday celebration on Nov 23, 2013.
This adjustment marked a reversion to the state’s original weekend during its days as an Unfederated Malay State.
Johor only switched to a Saturday and Sunday weekend in 1994, during Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s tenure as mentri besar.
