JOHOR BARU, Jan 5 — Johoreans are seizing the opportunity presented by the new weekend holiday on Saturdays and Sundays, to enjoy recreation and explore local attractions with their families.
One of the main draws is the Johor Zoo, a popular destination for parents with children. Some visitors even arrive an hour early, eager to enter before the zoo officially opens at 9 am.
Nurul Nadira Ismail, 29, a teacher at Sekolah Agama Desa Pulada, shared that her visit to the zoo, with her husband, Muhd Irfan Zekri, 28, had been planned for the past two weeks.
“We had to plan ahead, as my husband, who works in a factory, and I used to have different weekend schedules. While I had my weekend on Friday and Saturday, his was on Saturday and Sunday,” she explained.
“Previously, we had to plan ahead if we wanted to go anywhere, and sometimes one of us would have to take a day off,” said Nurul Nadira, from Kota Tinggi, when met at the Johor Zoo, today.
“Now that we share the same weekend holiday, it will be much easier for us to go anywhere without any restrictions,” she added.
Meanwhile, Daniel Nanang, 36, a supervisor in a private company in the oil and gas sector, shared that many family vacations had to be postponed in the past due to the mismatch in school weekend holiday.
The father of two, originally from Miri, Sarawak, and a Johor resident since 2005, expressed his relief, and praised the positive steps taken by the state government to allow families to spend more time together.
“As someone who works in the private sector, my weekends were always on Saturdays and Sundays, but my children’s school holiday was on Friday and Saturday,” he explained.
“We, as parents, are pleased with the adjustment to the weekend holiday, as it encourages families to spend more time together and strengthens family bonds,” he said.
On Oct 7 last year, the Regent of Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim announced that the official weekend in the state would revert to Saturdays and Sundays, starting Jan 1, 2025. This decision followed the consent and blessing of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, and after considering the views of the Johor Islamic Religious Council.
Johor had initially switched to Fridays and Saturdays as its official weekend, starting Jan 1, 2014, with the consent of Sultan Ibrahim.
Other states that currently observe the weekend holiday on Fridays and Saturdays are Terengganu, Kelantan, and Kedah. — Bernama