Time Travel: Samoa and Tokelau to Move a Day Ahead
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Samoa and Tokelau have decided to take the day off, but not in the traditional sense. The tiny Pacific nations will be moving to the other side of the international dateline at midnight tonight, jumping 24 hours ahead in time and eliminating December 30th from their calendars this year.
The move is largely an attempt to streamline business dealings with neighboring Pacific nations such as Australia, New Zealand and China. ”In doing business with New Zealand and Australia, we’re losing out on two working days a week,” Samoan Prime Minister Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi said in a statement. “While it’s Friday here, it’s Saturday in New Zealand, and when we’re at church on Sunday, they’re already conducting business in Sydney and Brisbane.”
Samoa has been on the Eastern side of the dateline since 1892 when U.S. traders persuaded local Samoan authorities to align the country’s time with nearby U.S.-controlled American Samoa and the U.S. to assist their trading with California. But given today’s trade patterns, the government no longer feels this makes sense.
“Today we do a lot more business with New Zealand and Australia, China and Pacific Rim countries such as Singapore,” the prime minister told the Associated Press, adding that his latest idea will make commerce with the region “far, far easier.”
Tokelau’s parliament, the Tokelau General Fono, recently voted to go ahead with the change as well. The Ulu or Chief of Tokelau endorsed the decision, telling Radio New Zealand international that he hopes “that the people will go to sleep on Thursday night and wake up the next day, Saturday, the 31st of December, without any huge changes.”
The Samoan government has announced that although many will be missing a day of work as a result of the move ahead, anyone who was scheduled to work Friday will still receive a full day’s pay.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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Well it’s official. China is more important than the U.S. to Samoa and Tokelau.
Posted by: newcountryman | December 29, 2011, 8:11 pm 8:11 pm
Newcountryman, that is a very crude thing to say. Of course, you jump to conclusions and forget that New Zealand and Australia are western countries and produce a reasonable amount of trade. Their products are good quality, they have high standards, and they hold the same ideals as America. Stop trying to make this into a war against China. China and the United States of America are not the only two countries in the Pacific. Also, most of the trade done with China is only because products are not made anywhere else and they have little choice. I’m a dual citizen in Australia and America. I’ve seen it firsthand- Chinese junk breaks within weeks and people avoid it unless absolutely necessary.
Posted by: Aquia | December 29, 2011, 10:29 pm 10:29 pm
lol I feel sorry for someone who had a birthday on Dec. 30th in those nations
Posted by: Guest | December 29, 2011, 10:39 pm 10:39 pm
Alas, another link in the chain is broken in US relations with other sovereign nations. So Samoa believes it has a stronger trading relationship with New Zealand and Australia than it does with the United States.
So for those of you who believe that “Made In USA” has some cachet with other nations, well here comes a strong dose of reality for you.
Posted by: stevieod | December 29, 2011, 11:36 pm 11:36 pm
stupid..neighboring with new zealand,china and others..wake up you stupid..do you know you are one independent country and you rely on other country for ideas to put in your mind..why dont you make your own strong decision that help your country and people…poor country dont have any idea what so ever..elderly people im sure all upset and confused but i guess what ever helps to put in their darn pocket for themselves not the country..not smart at all..just shame about the change and he is so proud of plastic stuff that china is fool them of..all the plastic imports from China here in USA is trash break easily..poor country need smart people to take over the country and stop bringing plastic stuff that last two days in Samoa ..bring good qualities …
Posted by: lo | December 30, 2011, 1:08 am 1:08 am
Y’all seem to be missing the main point here. The governments of Samoa and Tokelau are stealing a day from the people of those nations. Almost two hundred thousand people are to lose one day of their lives (12/30/2011), skipped by government decree. In 1752 the government in the UK stole 11 days from the people of the UK with a ‘calendar adjustment’. We rioted under the battle dry of “Give us our eleven days!”. I hope the people of Samoa and Tokelau don’t take this lying down. I’d like to see the UN get involved, militarily if necessary.
Posted by: 2hundredthousand | December 30, 2011, 5:05 am 5:05 am
They are only jumping ahead one hour folks, there will still be 23 hours of dec 30th or 47 hours of dec 31st to go. Don’t be fooled, for the next time it could be 22 years.
Posted by: hoodwinked | December 30, 2011, 8:18 am 8:18 am
Can understand the time shift, but they also change from driving on the right side of the roadway to the left. Guess they really want to suck up to the Aussies and the Kiwis.
Posted by: Ted TampaBay | December 30, 2011, 9:12 am 9:12 am
Ok 2hundredthousand, you got a little over exited there. People are still going to live that day, the only change is going to be the date. Plus everyone that was supposed to work that day will get their pay! So all you people complaining get over it. Always making everything a big deal when some times it’s not.
Posted by: HereInOmaha | December 30, 2011, 9:42 am 9:42 am
These changes seem like matters of common sense; both countries will be in sync with nearby nations to benefit from the same business schedules. The decision on changing driving rules allows the people of these small nations more choices and saving in the cars they buy. Australia, New Zealand, Japan and India are all left-driving countries which meant these 2 small countries would have to special order cars when they wanted the driver side the reverse of most in the region.
Posted by: opinyun | December 30, 2011, 4:38 pm 4:38 pm
2hundredthousand, please tell us you don’t really believe what you just wrote. Yikes.
Posted by: puppyfeet217 | December 30, 2011, 4:43 pm 4:43 pm
Obviously if I’m born before the stolen day and I die after it I won’t get to live that day. My life will be short that day. It’s not rocket science. I was staggered to see the brainwashed sheeple of these countries actually celebrating the theft of a day of their lives.This is why the 2nd Amendment is so important. Actually the more you think about it the worse it becomes. What will/has happened to babies that would have been born in Samoa or Tokelau on the 31st? Or those who would have died that day? Only time will tell. Any action taken by the UN over this issue must include a full and urgent investigation of these and other important questions raised by this action; questions which the MSM are completely ignoring. Ron Paul – 2012!
Posted by: 2hundredthousand | December 30, 2011, 7:50 pm 7:50 pm
2hundredthousand. They only skipped ahead 24 hours. They will still have the day but it will not be designated the 31st. It is like having 3 streets in a row, A, B, C. You change B to D yet the street is still there but redesignated. This is not a UN sactioned anything. The UN does not control time and date, or are you that stupid. The dateline isn’t even anything that is an official demarkation line, it’s only used by mapmakers. Have you ever looked at a map or globe and noticed how the “International dateline” zig zags around countries in the Pacific? Countries can decide what side they want to be on, has nothing to do with the UN or anyone else. Do you complain when the time changes here because you gain or lose an hour? Same thing except instead of gaining or losing an hour, it’s a full day that is missed. And what the heck does this have to do with the 2nd Amendment anyway? There is nothing in the Constitution saying anything about time. Why don’t you re-read the article and find out what it says. This has nothing to do with the US or any other country for that matter.
Posted by: Ryan | December 30, 2011, 9:15 pm 9:15 pm
Daylight savings adjustments are different. They take an hour in the Spring but it is given back later in the year. So you only lose the hour if you die after they’ve taken it but before they’ve given it back. Obviously. Roughly 50/50. And it’s only one hour. What a difference a day makes. Twenty-four little hours. Yet still the MSM continues to treat the theft of a day from almost two hundred thousand people as a joke story. It totals almost 550 years!!!! And I for one would like to know what has happened to all those years. Ron Paul – 2012!
Posted by: 2hundredthousand | December 31, 2011, 12:24 pm 12:24 pm
Honestly 2hundredthousand, you have totally taken this wayyyy down a rabbit-hole. People will still LIVE that day…it just has a DIFFERENT NAME. Yeesh, thick and thicker.
Posted by: puppyfeet217 | January 3, 2012, 2:11 pm 2:11 pm