appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Employed mothers in Malaysia have defended emergency leave rights amid debate over unfair workplace expectations and the challenge of balancing family and long hours.
The dispute erupted after a woman complained on live radio that colleagues with children were taking emergency leave too often, piling extra work on their single counterparts.
The anonymous caller told the hosts of Hot FM’s breakfast show on Tuesday that she was fed up with a female colleague repeatedly using emergency leave when her child fell ill.
“I’m angry because why do women keep taking leave over their children,” she said. “Be reasonable and remember that not everyone who is single has free time.”
She said the teammate took leave about four times since the previous week, forcing others to shoulder her duties.
Hot FM presenter Muhammad Azmir Selamat, better known as AG Azmeer, pushed back against the caller, saying working parents were often juggling household finances, childcare and employment at the same time.
“You have to understand that we cannot predict the child’s situation,” he said. “She has to think about her family’s finances, and at the same time she has to look after her child and her other commitments.”
The conversation on workplace fairness struck a nerve in Malaysia, where the International Labour Organization’s estimates put the average work week at 44.5 hours, the fourth-longest in Southeast Asia after Cambodia, Brunei and Singapore.
The woman’s response when asked whether she might face the same predicament if she became a parent also angered some listeners.
“It’s fine, I can manage my time,” she said, further enraging working mothers, who described the difficulty of rationing annual and emergency leave around sick children and other personal commitments.
“I’m a single mother, so everything involving my child – school matters, therapy, sickness and hospital appointments – I handle myself,” a woman said on social media.
She added that much of her annual leave was spent caring for her child and that she sometimes took only half a day off to avoid burdening colleagues.

Another working mother said that availing of leave was hardly an easy escape from work.
“Believe me, no parent enjoys taking leave,” she said. “We’d be lying if we said we don’t feel disappointed, especially knowing work is piling up and feeling guilty towards our colleagues.”
Official figures show the pressure is not confined to the office. Malaysian women spend an average of six hours and seven minutes a day on unpaid domestic and care work, compared with four hours and 20 minutes for men, according to a Department of Statistics report released last month.
Despite the pressure to balance commitments, female labour force participation reached a record 56.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2025.
However, not everyone disagreed with the caller, with some noting that repeated absences could leave single colleagues overworked while their own family commitments were treated as less important.
“There’s a limit to giving way,” a social media user said. “Those who are married with kids, don’t take advantage of your family situation. Those who are single still have parents and commitments too.”
Others said the anger was directed at the wrong target, blaming instead a lack of employer responsibility and the failure to boost manpower.
“I would blame the lousy management of the company,” a user said, adding that employees should not be overloaded whenever somebody needed unexpected leave.
Malaysia’s Employment Act provides for flexible working arrangements and limits the normal work week to 45 hours, alongside maternity and paternity protections.


Health crisis grips Indonesians enduring haze: ‘my eyes sting, my head hurts’

Malaysia to invite Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing for Rohingya repatriation talks

Kimi creator Moonshot draws global funds seeking ‘top-tier’ Chinese AI developers: sources

Malaysian councillor resigns after DAP remarks at Umno assembly

Malaysia

Malaysian mothers defend emergency leave amid single workers’ gripes

Malaysian women spend an average of six hours and seven minutes a day on unpaid domestic and care work. Photo: AP

Balancing work and family has triggered an online debate in Malaysia as mothers defend emergency leave rights. Photo: AP

Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia graduates in limbo after UK rule change

Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia. Photo: Google Maps

Medical staff transfer a patient along a corridor at a hospital in Blackburn, northwest England, in 2020. Photo: AFP

Doctors at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Photo: AFP

The UK Foundation Programme route became a mainstream route for NUMed graduates from 2017 to enter Britain’s National Health Service, according to Newcastle University. Photo: AFP

The General Medical Council has reaffirmed that Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia’s medical degree remains a “UK primary medical qualification”. Photo: Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia

Veteran Malaysian MP Wong quits over ‘toxic politics’, leaving reform agenda in doubt

Wong Chen (left), joins Rafizi Ramli (centre) and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad  at a press conference at Bersama’s headquarters on Wednesday. Photo: Iman Muttaqin Yusof



Bersama’s headquarters in Taman Putra Perdana, Puchong, Selangor. Photo: Iman Muttaqin Yusof 

Bersama leader Rafizi Ramli (centre) poses with party members at its Puchong headquarters after unveiling the party’s first group of spokespeople on Wednesday. Photo: Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Malaysia’s Anwar slams ‘political drama’ after opposition walks out of Tabung Haji debate

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim attends a plenary session of the Russia-Asean Summit on June 18. Photo: EPA

Muslim pilgrims offer evening prayers around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site in the holy city of Mecca, during the annual haj pilgrimage on May 24. Photo: AP

Barisan Nasional supporters celebrate the bloc’s win in Negeri Sembilan on August 1. Photo: Facebook/barisanasional

This Week in Asia

People

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

A caller’s complaint on a radio show sparked debate over the struggle to balance work with care burdens, as well as criticism from single peers


A caller’s complaint on a radio show sparked debate over the struggle to balance work with care burdens, as well as criticism from single peers.


Malaysian mothers defend emergency leave amid single workers’ gripes

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A caller’s complaint on a radio show sparked debate over the struggle to balance work with care burdens, as well as criticism from single peers

A caller’s complaint on a radio show sparked debate over the struggle to balance work with care burdens, as well as criticism from single peers