Jakarta, hitclubapk3 Indonesia
—
A post by a Malaysian minister on X about morning jogging sparked a debate over the alleged Peninsula
Malaysia
and Singapore was in the wrong time zone this whole time.
The post by the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, on
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“Good morning Kota Kinabalu! It’s early morning here, so at 06.00 am you can start before the first program at 08.30 am this Sunday!”he wrote in X on November 9, as quoted
The Straits Times
.
Malaysia has currently implemented the GMT+8 time zone, which means it is one hour ahead of Indonesia.
So, the sun rises later than Indonesian time.
This has prompted a number of Peninsular Malaysians to encourage the government to re-implement the GMT+7 time zone.
Because, according to some residents, the GMT+ time zone makes people lose their lifestyle because they don’t have enough time to enjoy the morning light, thus disrupting the body’s natural 24-hour cycle.
Many comments on the minister’s post encouraged Peninsular Malaysia to return to the GMT+7 time zone, the time zone of Thailand and western Indonesia.
This call also appeared for many years in X and was pioneered by a small community in the neighboring country.The community is pushing to change the time zone to GMT+7 so that Malaysians can get lots of sunlight in the morning.
In March 2024, this issue even entered Parliament’s discussion, and the government said that although it understood the health reasons, this time zone change could have a big economic impact.
However, the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry at that time had no intention of changing that decision.
“The government has no interest in changing the 1981 decision,” said Liew Chin Tong.
Even though Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are on the same longitude as Bangkok and Jakarta, both areas use a time zone one hour ahead.
The time zone used is the same as Manila even though the capital of the Philippines is around 2,500 km further east.
This condition makes the sun rise in Peninsular Malaysia at around 7 am, different from Jakarta at around 5.30 and in Manila at 6 am.
Meanwhile, the sun rises in Sabah and Sarawak at 6 to 6.30 am.These two eastern states share the same time zone as the rest of Malaysia.
Peninsular Malaysians only get two hours of morning light before work hours start at 9. Meanwhile, students go to school at 7.30 am.
This time zone difference has caused widespread concern.Meor Haqimy, a 35 year old insurance agent, who responded to Datuk Seri Zafrul’s post.
Meor said his trips to Sabah and Sarawak made him believe earlier morning light provided a more productive day.
This opinion is also shared by Kassim Che Mat, a former marine logistics manager from Kelantan, who enjoys a morning walk in the sun before starting work.
“I told the kids that if I felt this way from the start of my career, I would move to Borneo for good,” said Kassim, who worked for five years in Kota Kinabalu.
Previously, Peninsular Malaysia was at GMT+7.30 after World War II in 1945.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on 1 January 1982 moved forward half an hour to equalize the time with Sabah and Sarawak.
Singapore has also adjusted its timings so as not to make things difficult for business people and tourists.
(rnp/rds/bac)
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