The Change of Malaysian Standard Time: A Motion and Debate in the Malaysian Parliament

This paper attempts to identify the reasons why the (former) Prime Minister of Malaysia, (Tun) Mahathir Mohamed proposed to change the Malaysian Standard Time on the 8 hours ahead based on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and coordinated with official times for (East Malaysia), namely Sabah and Sarawak effective January 1, 1982. Previously, Peninsular Malaysia was 7 ½ hours ahead while Sabah and Sarawak were 8 hours ahead of GMT. Using analytical textual method, this paper formulated the content of the House of Commons Hansard texts on 21 December 1981 and the House of Lords convened on 18 December 1981. The findings revealed that the ½ hour time difference between the Peninsular and Sabah and Sarawak affected working hours especially in early and ending of time. The approval of the Malaysian Standard Time Act successfully standardized the official communication time between the Peninsular with Sabah and Sarawak as well as establishing integration between the two regions. The time zone of Sabah and Sarawak was chosen as the Standard Malaysia time as it was found to be most appropriate in terms of daylight savings as well as minimal disruption to the everyday life of the people in the country.