Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn had said that the additional Saturday off-day for civil servants is meant to revitalise them and help heighten productivity.
He said that with the extra off-day, civil servants would have rested enough every first and third Saturday of the month to increase productivity.
He said: "Besides forging better family ties and going on outings, the civil servants felt it was a restful weekend."
Instead of declaring off-day for the first and third Saturday of the month, the Government should just introduce a five-day workweek.
The Barisan Alternative in the common manifesto "Towards A Just Society" had called for a five-day workweek, as part of a comprehensive reform of work ethics to ensure that Malaysia can be more competitive in the global economy of the new millennium where workers can be more flexible in their expertise and capacities, as well as innovative with ever increasing productivity.
To achieve this, the process of continuing education, improvement of the work environment and the framework of industrial relations are important, from the point of view of workers’ rights, employer interests and national interests.
(26/1/2000)