Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim announced today that the state will once again revert to Saturday and Sunday as its official weekend days, effective Jan 1, 2025.
In a statement, Tunku Ismail said the decision to change the current Friday and Saturday rest days has received the consent and blessing of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar after considering the views of the Johor Islamic Religious Council.
“I would like to announce that starting Jan 1, 2025, Johor’s weekend will be changed to Saturday and Sunday.
“I have decreed for Johor Mentri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi and the Johor mufti to discuss and study every angle and aspect regarding this matter,” he said.
“I hope that the private sector, the government and related parties will allow sufficient time and space for Muslim workers to perform Friday prayers accordingly,” he added.
Meanwhile, Onn said the change will involve all Johoreans in the state, particularly 587,343 students and close to two million workers, the majority of whom are in the government and public sectors.
“Discussions to coordinate the change will cover all aspects including on Islam, without compromising respect given to Friday as the ‘leader’ of all day,” he said.
Onn said the state government, together with the Johor mufti and related agencies, will provide details on suitable working hours on Fridays and ensure adequate time for Muslims to perform the Friday prayers.
“InsyaAllah, without compromising on the importance of Friday prayers, this coordination will reduce scheduling problems within the public and private sector, allow families to spend time together and ease cross-border as well as business activities,” he said.
This is the third time in three decades that Johor has switched weekend days.
The current Friday-Saturday official weekend has been in place since 2015, but certain segments within the private sector still opted to maintain Saturday and Sunday as their rest days.
Johor had also observed Friday-Saturday weekends before 1994.
Besides Johor, three other states - Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu - have continued to adopt Friday and Saturday as the weekend, a convention commonly adopted by Middle Eastern countries.
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