The year 2017 brings with it a bumper crop of seven long weekends.
Of the 11 gazetted public holidays released on Tuesday (April 5), seven fall on a Friday, Sunday or Monday.
Here’s a quick guide to public holidays in 2017, and how to maximise those long weekends:
- Know The Dates
2. Pick The Right Days To Take Leave
There are seven long weekends, but it’s possible to make it 10.
If you’re looking a short break in the region, one of the following three-day weekends will do.
January: New Year’s Day (Jan 1) and the second day of Chinese New Year (Jan 29) both fall on Sundays, making the following Mondays public holidays.
April: There’s good ol’ Good Friday (April 14).
May: Labour Day (May 1) falls on Monday.
June: Hari Raya Puasa (June 25) falls on a Sunday, thus Monday (June 26) is a holiday.
September: Hari Raya Haji (Sept 1) is on a Friday
December: Christmas (Dec 25) is on Monday.
But for a longer trip, you can create five-day “weekends” by taking two days of leave in May, August, or October.
May: Vesak Day (May 10) is a Wednesday. Take leave on Monday and Tuesday (May 8 and 9) or Thursday and Friday (May 11 and 12) to make it a five-day break.
August: National Day (Aug 9) falls on a Wednesday. You can take Aug 7 and 8, or Aug 10 and 11 off to make it a five-day break.
October: Deepavali (Oct 18) falls on a Wednesday. Take Oct 16 and 17, or Oct 19 and 20 off for a five-day break.
3. Plan For Your Trips In The Months Without Holidays
February, March, July and November are the “dry” months with no public holidays.
4. Deepavali Dates Are Now Fixed
It will be easier to plan your leave from now on.
From 2016, the Deepavali date was not subject to change, according to the Ministry of Manpower.
In the past, the date for Deepavali was estimated in March or April of the previous year, and confirmed against the Hindu Almanac when it was available in the early part of the year.
It falls on Oct 18 in 2017.
Now that you know what to do, here are five places worth visiting this year if you’re planning to go on holiday using one of these long weekends: