Exerting his knowledge of the International Date Line, the young man proposed an imaginary scenario that three Sundays did concur in one week. The main character of the 19th Century Edgar Allan Poe novel may now be able to find a contemporary counterpart, Samoa.
In a vote of confidence for the Asian century, the tiny Pacific Ocean island state has decided to shift the jagged International Date Line to its east at the end of this year, which will bring it a day closer to Asia and Australasia.
That reverses a decision 119 years ago to move the line to the west, following the lobby by Samoa merchants who intended to better accommodate business with trading ships from the US and the Europe. The clocks in Apia, the capital, are 21 hours behind Canberra but only four hours behind San Francisco.
Australia and New Zealand combined account for more than half of Samoa imports and more than 85 per cent of total exports, which largely consist of coconut products and fish.
Travelling through time to improve its economic prospects, Samoa is now one step closer towards the integration into an era of Asiatic dominance.
