Malaysians Ranked 3rd Worldwide Vacation-Deprived People.

Expedia.com.my revealed that Malaysians are the third most vacation-deprived people across the globe. Malaysian Digest stated that Malaysia is like a ‘holiday heaven’. One of the advantages being a citizen of a multiracial country like Malaysia is we get to revel in a lot of public holidays.We have ethnic public holidays, religious public holidays, secular public holidays that is taking place every year like National Day and not to forget state level holidays. Our numerous holidays is one of our pride as we are able to celebrate varieties of festivals all year long.

Ironically, a country that has the most amount of holidays is also a country where its citizens are vacation deprived. Recently, the amount of annual leaves was increased to 18 days when you first started working compared to 15 days the year before. This number of course does not include the number of public holidays, paid holidays, maternity leaves and many more that Malaysians employee receive each year. Nevertheless, only 37% of Malaysians used up all their leaves and 52% of employees actually cancelled their holiday because of work according to the latest survey done by Expedia. Are Malaysians really that hardworking? Simon Fiquet, Expedia’s Southeast Asia general manager said one of the reasons why Malaysians did not go on holidays is because of financial constraint.

En. Farid Suhaimie (45), admit he rarely brings his family on vacation nowadays. This father of three think of vacations as burdening. He is already working part time as an Uber driver and his wife is part time tutoring after office hours to support their family. During school holidays, he will bring his children to malls or recreational parks to keep them entertained. But, this also does not mean that the children can enjoy lavishly and buy according to their wants there. “Of course I want to take my family on vacation. Vacations have become a luxury nowadays and it is simply a luxury that I cannot afford.” With the days off that he got from his office works, En. Farid would rather be driving Uber all day to earn extra cash. Going out during holidays is wasting money. En. Farid works as an IT Executive and his wife works as a clerk, both in the private sector.

Some Malaysians admit to not going on holidays because they were afraid it will negatively impact their careers. They believe taking time off work proves they are not committed towards their work and their boss will not be happy about it. For those who actually went on leave from work, they did not properly rest and enjoy themselves. Most of the time, they will be checking their phone and replying to work email. Farahanis (29) said “I have not been here for so long. It will be 2 years in two months time. I do not think by taking time off even for a few days is good for my career. What will my colleagues say? What will my boss say?” Miss Farahanis is a fresh graduate from UiTM. She is afraid that by taking time off work, she will face the consequence of losing her job. She needs money to pay for her rent and also to pay off her study loan.

Hatel Doshi-Suhana Daswani, a psychologist says it is extremely important for employees to have balance in their work life. This situation of Malaysian employees overworking is bad for them. “In our brain there is something called dopamine and it will overworked. Humans tend to numb themselves when they overwork and this will make them overreact to other things in life”. Dopamine is also a neurotransmitter that triggers the adrenaline in response to stress. Being constantly stressed will jeopardize one’s health. It will raise blood pressure, sugar levels and also other psychological and physical problems. She believes this is why mental issues are constantly on the rise in Malaysia. This is why it is important to have balance in employees’ life. She also believes one that goes on vacations are more inclined to get promotions – mainly because that person decide and reckon better than the other colleagues.

There is nothing wrong in being committed to your work. Really, that is good. But our health matters too. So, fellow Malaysians, take your time off work and pamper yourself. It does not have to be luxury vacations at a 5-star hotel. Weekend getaway to the beach or just chilling at home will do. Rest well and energize yourself.