Johor families cheer return of Saturday-Sunday weekends

Switch from Friday-Saturday break allows more family time, syncs work schedules

- Harith Mustaffa

Johor resident Shernice Chong was all smiles on her commute home to Kulai from Singapore on Jan 3, despite the Friday-night traffic and 90-minute wait on a highway on the Malaysian side after the Second Link.

The mother of two daughters was excited about weekend plans for her family, after the southern Malaysian state reinstated Saturday-Sunday weekends from Jan 1, in place of the previous Friday-Saturday arrangement.

"We've been waiting for this for years," said Ms Chong, a travel industry executive who commutes daily to her office in Tanjong Pagar. The 33-year-old has worked in Singapore since 2012.

She explained that her 12-year-old used to attend school from Sunday to Thursday, while her two-year-old was cared for by her aunt.

Ms Chong and her husband work Mondays to Fridays, making Saturdays their only common day off.

"We had only one day together as a family," said Ms Chong. "Now we no longer need to be tied up with the school timings."

Johor changed its weekend to Friday and Saturday in 2014, in a mark of respect for Friday as the holy day for Muslims.

In October 2024, the state's Regent, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, announced that weekends would be changed back to Saturday and Sunday from Jan 1.