The business sector has allegedly had to bear losses with an expectation of more than RM3 billion a day if a surprise public holiday is declared without planning.
Industry players have since urged the government not to make any unplanned and sudden announcements of public holidays as it has been done before.
According to a report by Harian Metro, the president of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM), Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai shared that the announcement of sudden public holidays is worrying considering it brings huge losses of income and productivity to industries.
“The losses of manufacturing value added per day is around RM1 billion. This amount does not include salaries. The daily salary the private sector has to pay is RM700 million. If a public holiday is declared, it means having to pay triple, which means more than RM2 billion.”
“So, added to the loss of manufacturing value added, the losses may exceed RM3 billion every day,” he said, adding that the sudden declaration of public holidays can affect other services as well.
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Thian Lai also stressed that the government should instead focus on developing the country’s economy and how to run the government administration.
This comes after the government had suddenly announced the additional public holidays during the recent Aidilfitri celebrations, giving the people an additional day off to allow them to plan out their trips back to their hometowns.
On top of that, a 2-day general release was declared during the 15th General Elections (GE15) last year, to facilitate the public to fulfill their responsibility to vote, before another general release day was announced shortly after to celebrate the formation of the Unity Government.
What do you think? Should the government stop giving the people extra days off as it affects industry income and productivity?
Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
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