No plan to push clocks back by an hour, says Miti

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has no plans to adjust the standard time in Peninsular Malaysia from GMT+8 to GMT+7, says Liew Chin Tong.

The Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) Deputy Minister said such a change in Malaysian Standard Time would only burden the people.

“Generally, the one-hour difference between GMT+8 and GMT+7 does not affect daily life. The human body clock can adapt well to the environmental changes with this slight difference,” he said during the question and answer session in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (March 5).

He was responding to a question from Datuk Mumtaz Md Nawi (PN-Tumpat) on whether the ministry has plans to consider changing the Peninsular Malaysia time to GMT +7 based on the geographical position and actual movement of the sun so that the people can live their daily lives according to their body clock.

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According to Liew, GMT+8 was chosen because it is found to be more suitable in terms of daylight savings and its impact on the comfort and lifestyle of Malaysians.

“Another factor to consider is the standardisation was in line with international practices. That year, the Singaporean government also agreed to follow Malaysia’s lead by setting its standard time eight hours ahead of GMT, although geographically, it is close to the Longitude 104° East or the GMT+7 time zone.

“Currently, Malaysia follows the GMT+8 based on the Longitude 120° East time zone, known as Malaysian Standard Time, as stipulated in the National Measurement System Act 2007 (Act 675),” he explained.

Act 675 outlines the functions of the National Metrology Institute of Malaysia (NMIM) through the National Measurement Council as the National Standard Measurement Laboratory mandated to maintain or cause to be maintained the coordinated universal time.

The National Measurement Council has been established as one of the agencies under Miti starting from July 9, 2020.

“Between 1945 and 1982, Peninsular Malaysia’s standard time was set at seven and a half hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). On Dec 21, 1981, during the debate on the Malaysian Standard Time Bill in the Dewan Rakyat, it was announced that the official time throughout Malaysia would be set eight hours ahead of GMT starting from Jan 1, 1982.

“This means that at 11.30pm on Dec 31, 1981, the time in Peninsular Malaysia was adjusted 30 minutes forward to match the midnight observed in Sabah and Sarawak,” said Liew.- Bernama