TIME

We are used to thinking about time as absolute. Even though Einstein came along and demonstrated that it is in fact relative, we refuse to believe it. Our modern lives are dominated by the clock.

So it is a breath of fresh air to learn that Samoa has decided to get rid of a day. It will do this on 29 December by jumping over to the west side of the international date line and joining Australia and New Zealand in the first hours of the day instead of being almost 24 hours behind in the last hours of the day. The country is doing this for economic reasons, since a large part of its trade is done with these nations. This is currently difficult, since a working Friday in Samoa is Saturday in New Zealand; while a working Monday in New Zealand is Sunday in Samoa.

Interestingly, this change is taking place some 119 years after Samoa jumped the other way, in order to try to increase its trade with the U.S. and Europe. It is yet another sign of how Asia is becoming increasingly important in the world economically.

When Great Britain shifted from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in September 1752, there were riots in the streets by citizens wanting to get back their "lost" 11 days. Let's hope there aren't similar disturbances on Samoa.

Walter Blotscher