The additional public holiday for Hari Raya will put an unnecessary financial burden on businesses, said Mydin owner Ameer Ali Mydin, whose hypermarket business is set to lose RM500,000 because of it.
In a television interview last night, the businessperson advised the government to not simply take a populist decision and instead focus on targeted subsidies to help the rakyat.
"Who does not want an extra holiday? I also want a holiday. But, everybody has already made their plans for Raya, many had even taken leave for this Friday.
"But now, when the prime minister announced an additional public holiday, this would incur costs to businesses.
"When there is a sudden announcement like this, for Mydin alone, we (estimate) our losses to be around half a million ringgit," he said in an interview with Astro Awani.
Ameer was commenting on the extra holiday for Aidilfitri which Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced yesterday.
The additional holiday will depend on when Hari Raya starts. According to the announcement, if Aidilfitri falls on Friday (April 21), then the following Monday (April 24) will be set as a public holiday.
If it falls on Saturday (April 22), then Friday will be declared as a public holiday.
Better use of money
Ameer added that the amount that businesses would lose due to this can be put to better use, such as lowering the price of Menu Rahmah and other goods.
This would benefit the people more, he stressed.
"Can you imagine the half a million ringgit, I can use that RM500,000 to lower the price of Menu Rahmah to only RM4 per plate.
"This would benefit 500,000 people. I think this government must not be populist," he said.
Ameer also commented on the toll-free travel on all highways for a total of four days during the Hari Raya period, which is given indiscriminately to all types of vehicles.
While it made many happy, the businessperson said not all travellers need such a subsidy from the government.
"Those who can pay the toll, like myself, let them pay. We need to have a targeted subsidy, the model we are using now is incorrect," he added. - Mkini
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