PMX: No Extra Holiday for Raya Because We Need to Have the Semangat for Work

As of now, the 1st and 2nd day of Raya are expected to fall on April 10 and 11. On Friday (April 12), most Malaysians are going back to work after 2 days of public holidays before the weekend.

Many of us may have planned to take a day off from work on Friday to embrace the long weekend (might as well, right?). Since it will be only a day left until the weekend after the 1st 2 days of Raya, will the government be offering an extra day of public holiday on April 12th?

We hate to burst your bubble but according to PM Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Friday the 12th will be a working day for all Malaysians. Let’s just say, the PM wants you to be motivated to work.

“We need to have the semangat (spirit) for work,” PM told the media yesterday when he was asked about the possibility of an additional day of public holiday.

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Anwar was attending an Iftar event last night (March 28) where he broke his fast with a whopping 10,000 attendants on Nuzul Al-Quran day.

His wife, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah was also present to distribute a financial aid of RM110,000 to the needy, which was contributed by LHDN and TNB.

However, last year, Anwar granted an additional day of holiday for all Malaysians to ease them in their plans to balik kampung for the celebration. Raya 2023 fell on April 22 & 23, which was a Saturday and Sunday. Malaysians had the luxury of a long weekend last year, which lasted until April 25 (Tuesday).

Last week, Anwar also revealed that there will be no Raya bonuses this year for civil servants, all thanks to the RM2,000 incentive that they had received back in February, which also served as an early Raya bonus.

It sounds like the PM doesn’t have much good news about Raya this year. Regardless, we’re always entitled to apply for annual leave if we want to. Do you foresee yourself being away from work for the long weekend during the Raya week?

Also read: Statistics Dept: RM10 is the Most Popular Duit Raya Amount in M’sia Over the Past 23 Years