IT is no secret that Malaysia ranks among those countries with the most public holidays (both at national and state levels) in the world.
The subject of public holidays which often benefits the workforce/employees but can be a bane to private sector employers has elicited a debate between fierce socio-political critic Mariam Mokhtar and scholar Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi who is a Professor of Islamic Architecture at the USCI University.
Interestingly, the duo who are both columnists in the Sin Chew Daily English news portal clashed over their ‘extremist’ views of having additional public holidays for the Hari Raya festivity, thus creating a debate that is worthy of further deliberation in the Parliament.
Public holidays are disruptive
Mariam whose column aptly entitled “Populist Propaganda, Unscheduled Public Holidays and Popularity Ratings” criticises the recent decision by Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to declare yesterday (April 21) a public holiday for Hari Raya Aidilfitri which falls today without consulting industry and business leaders.
“Malaysia already observes 14 days of public holidays whilst East Malaysia enjoys only 13 days. Each state also has its own provision and entitlement for additional public holidays. Has a study been conducted on how performance and productivity will be affected?” she berated.
Mariam went on to argue that this populist move will hurt businesses and the Malaysian economy as it could create financial chaos and adversely impact productivity especially from a small medium enterprise (SME) stand-point.
“Are our politicians pro-business or are they more focused on promoting self-interests instead of public interests?” she further chastised.
In essence, Mariam urged politicians to have real-world experience before entering politics and suggests that career politicians lack the understanding of how ordinary people manage their lives.
“Career politicians are the worst sort of people to lead the country. If only they had been in business before kickstarting their political careers but not the sort of corporate positions that many senior UMNO-Baru politicians claim to have been in before becoming politicians,” she argued.
“They need to know how ordinary people live like putting food on the table, paying the mortgage, paying off car loans, worrying about their children’s education, taking care of their elderly parents and trying to save a little money each month for any possible emergency.”
Insulting to complain about public holidays
On the other side of the divide, Prof Mohd Tajuddin, has a score to settle with some corporate moguls and netizens who feel that Malaysia has too many public holidays.
He found such complaints insulting because Malaysia is a diverse country with many races and religions. Tajuddin also pointed out that life is about more than just money and productivity and that time spent with loved ones is precious and cannot be bought.
“So, having many public holidays to commemorate important dates is part of our life. What the heck is the problem?” he lashed out in his column “Complaining about Public Holidays is Extremely Un-Malaysian and Insulting”.
“We inherited the Malay Sultanate and we need to honour that history with a few holidays. We have two Merdeka (independent) days of Aug 31) (national day) and the Sept 16 (Malaysia Day).
“Sometimes the PM declares a sudden holiday to commemorate a Thomas Cup or football win, so what? Why so many calculations of ringgit and productivity?”
In essence, Tajuddin suggests that people should learn to appreciate the differences in their cultures and work around the holidays rather than complain about them. He further noted that politicians have used holidays as a strategic move in the past to prevent money from being transferred out of the country. – April 22, 2203
