Member of Parliament for Pasir Gudang, Hassan Abdul Karim insisted that Johor will not go backwards if weekends are maintained on Fridays and Saturdays, as it is practised now.
This came in response to The Regent of Johor, Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibrahim who announced that the state will revert to Saturday-Sunday weekends, effective 1 January 2025.
“Friday is a glorious day in Islam”
In his Facebook post, Hassan explained why Friday and Saturday are not just ordinary weekends, but instead have historical and cultural significance.
“Johor is included in the non-federated Malay states in the Federation of Malaya, just like Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah where weekends also fall on Friday and Saturday. These are also the states with the least British influence.”
Hassan then pointed out that other Federated states in Malaysia were “forced” to have weekends according to the wishes of the British colonialists, namely on Saturdays and Sundays. To him, the decision to revert Johor’s weekends to Saturdays and Sundays is like “forgetting the meaning of Johor’s own culture and political history.”
“Friday is a glorious day in Islam, it has a great meaning and the state will not go backward if Friday is a weekend. Weekends on Saturdays and Sundays did not last long because the Muslims in Johor did not support the implementation.”
Hassan also said that reverting the weekends to Saturdays and Sundays is what British colonialists have wanted all along.
To our Johorean readers, what do you think of the decision?
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