KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — Banks in Johor will continue to operate from Monday to Friday, the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) confirmed today, despite a change to weekend rest days in the state.
In a press statement, ABM said the Johor State Secretary Office did not object to the association’s application for commercial banks in the state continuing to observe Saturday and Sunday as rest days.
According to ABM, it has 17 member banks with branches operating in Johor.
On November 23, Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar declared the change of the state’s rest days to Friday and Saturday beginning January 1.
The Sultan stressed that the change was made following feedbacks from different groups to allow Muslims to perform their religious obligations on Friday.
The change of weekend rest days will take effect from January 1, 2014, with the Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin saying that the private sector has the option to stick to Saturday and Sunday for its rest days.
This makes Johor the fourth state, after Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu, to put Friday and Saturday as its days off.
This is not the first time Johor has had its weekend starting Friday and ending Saturday, as the country’s southernmost state last observed the practice in 1994.
