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Daylight Saving Time Gone Bonkers

Charl de Souza

January 03^rd 2012

Forget Daylight Saving Time, a Pacific Ocean nation has discarded a whole day!

The South Pacific island nation of Samoa lost the complete day of Friday the 30^th 2011.

They went to sleep on the 29^th and woke up on the 31^st.

Daylight Saving Time is only and hour back and forwards, but what do you do when your neighbour is always a day ahead? Samoa lies on the International Date Line and this has always caused a hassle.

Samoa’s main trading partners and neighbours have been in tomorrow, while Samoa struggled to catch up always being yesterday.

By taking the bold step across the International Date Line Samoa has finally caught up. It has now joined its key trading partners in being there TODAY and no longer yesterday.

Australia, New Zealand, China and Japan are the main countries Samoa trades with. For the last 119 years they were constantly nearly a full weekday ahead of Samoa, but economically they were practically losing two working days a week. On a Samoan Friday, Australians were relaxing on their Saturday, and when the Australians were back at work on Monday morning, the Samoans were singing hymns in church on their Sunday.

Now in the New Year Samoa is 3 hours ahead of Sidney, 13 hours ahead of UTC or Greenwich Time.

For anyone in Samoa that procrastinates (leave for tomorrow what you could do today) and regrets, there is an easy solution. Island hopping. I quick island hop Eastwards to American Samoa, and they are back in yesterday. American Samoa is retaining its position of living in yesterday.

Samoa has lived in yesterday for the last 120 years. Now in 2012 they are thoroughly modern and changed their time to today! Where others try to save daylight, the Samoans saved the day. before they were the last place on Earth to see a sunset, now they are the first place on Earth to see a sunrise.

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