Miss a day, gain much more: Samoa moves the international dateline

Samoa is a South Pacific island (population 200,000), formerly called Western Samoa, situated on the eastern side of the International Date Line, making it the last country on Earth to end the day. This means that it is a day behind Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and other Pacific countries – Samoa’s trading partners – restricting the country to a three-day business week. It lies south of the equator about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii (and is about the size of two of Hawaii’s islands, Oahu and Maui combined).

Samoa was placed this side of the international dateline almost 120 years ago when its trading partners were Europe and the United States of America. Samoa’s parliament passed legislation on Monday June 27, 2011, to reverse the decision on December 30, so that the international dateline lies to the east of the country, bringing it in line with Australasia. Therefore, this year, Friday December 30 won’t exist. The country will literally miss a day to enable the alignment – finishing Thursday December 29 and waking to December 31.

Samoans are generally in favour of the decision and those having an anniversary on December 30 will only miss out this year as December 30 will be back on the calendar in 2012. The official registrar indicates that 767 births and 43 marriages were registered on that date.

An official from the tiny New Zealand territory of Tokelau, which lies to the north of Samoa and has a population of less than 1,500, said it would probably follow Samoa's lead and also skip December 30. Samoa gained its independence from New Zealand in 1962 and was admitted to the United Nations in 1976. In July 1997, the constitution was amended to change the country's name from Western Samoa to Samoa. The U.S. territory of American Samoa protested and still refers to the country as Western Samoa. [American Samoa will remain unchanged and will continue to lie east of the dateline.]

Missing a day will result in the country being three hours ahead of Sydney, Australia, instead of 21 hours behind. The volcanic country is traditionally dependent on agriculture and fishing at the local level, as well as the manufacturing of agricultural products. Tourism is also an increasing source of income. Moving the International Date Line will also make it one of the first countries to start the day.

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog