KUCHING: The general public do not welcome the suggestion by Movement of Change Sarawak (MoCS) chairman Francis Paul Siah to reduce public holidays to a maximum of two of the most important religious occasions and one cultural festival in a calendar year.
Siah suggested that the government reduce the number of ‘insignificant’ national holidays for the sake of the nation’s economic growth and the welfare of workers.
In a random survey carried out by New Sarawak Tribune— assistant engineer Azizan Saie, 37, disagreed with the suggestion.
He believed there was a reason for the number of public holidays.
“In Sarawak, there are a lot of cultural celebrations throughout the year and if public holidays were to be reduced, most people will likely be offended since it is a sensitive matter,” he said.
Stanley Gona, 53, an employee of a local education institution, pointed out that the government must have put a lot of thoughts and considerations into the planning of the holidays.
“There is nothing wrong in celebrating these holidays as they promote closer relationships between multicultural communities. I don’t think our productivity is affected by the public holidays.”
Stanley added that although Sarawakians welcomed suggestions, anything that affected the multicultural communities in Sarawak needed proper studies.
A local business owner and employer Mohammad Nadzjib Rageli, 26, said the reduction of public holidays would affect him greatly.
“We rely heavily on the productivity of our employees for business growth and development but fewer public holidays would affect the morale of our employees and reduce their productivity,” he pointed out.
He also made clear that even if his employees were working during the holidays, the overtime payment would still motivate his employees to work harder in the company.
Meanwhile, Akmal Daus Yusup, 26, a full-time Grab car driver, said that even though there were more customers on working days, he was still against the idea of reducing the number of public holidays.
“I think this is a very sensitive matter to everyone and to simply reduce the public holidays would be disrespectful to the general public,” he said.
Awang Saimi, 34, a civil servant, pointed out that reducing the public holidays would not increase workers’ productivity.
“I would not be in the mood to work when the day is supposed to be a public holiday,” he explained.
Another civil servant, Dayang Nur Ainnayana, 27, disagreed with Siah’s suggestion.
She said she would like to spend the public holidays with her family.
“We have a limited number of annual leave and the public holidays allow most people to relax and bond with their family members and friends,” she said.
“As for productivity, I usually plan ahead of public holidays to make sure I finish all my work. Therefore, I don’t think it will increase my productivity whatsoever,” she added.
