Samoa and Tokelau skipped December 30; change Timezone

I was little bit surprised then I read a news regarding the skipping of time in Samoa and Tokelau (Islands in Pacific Ocean).

Samoa, an Island situated in the Pacific Ocean.

According to BBC News, Samoa decided to shift back west of the date line by skipping Friday 30 December, 119 years after this change was made. This changed the timezone from UTC−11 to UTC+13 (and from UTC−10 to UTC+14 during daylight saving time). The change was made because Australia and New Zealand have increasingly become Samoa's biggest trading partners and homes to a large community of expatriates. Being 21 hours behind made business difficult because having weekends on different days meant only four days of the week were shared workdays.

Tokelau, a territory of New Zealand north of Samoa that previously used UTC−10, also crossed the date line at the same time for the same reasons and now uses UTC+14. American Samoa, however, remains to the east of the date line, and is aligned with the American date. The International Date Line now passes between Samoa and American Samoa.

At least the motif of skipping the time is to boost the economic trading partner of three countries. But, how does it feel when you skipped one day of your life?