Index: lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/DateUtil.java
===================================================================
diff -u -r0a0679b24e6381c68c65ae4fd0df911b15e62851 -rf8f92ec5054f175535844294c99501059fd60ed1
--- lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/DateUtil.java	(.../DateUtil.java)	(revision 0a0679b24e6381c68c65ae4fd0df911b15e62851)
+++ lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/DateUtil.java	(.../DateUtil.java)	(revision f8f92ec5054f175535844294c99501059fd60ed1)
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpSession;
 
+import org.apache.commons.lang.time.FastDateFormat;
 import org.lamsfoundation.lams.usermanagement.dto.UserDTO;
 import org.lamsfoundation.lams.web.session.SessionManager;
 import org.lamsfoundation.lams.web.util.AttributeNames;
@@ -53,16 +54,7 @@
     public static final String SCHEDULE_LESSON_FORMAT = "dd/M/yyyy h:mm a";
     public static final String ISO8601_FORMAT = "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mmZ";
     public static final String PRETTY_FORMAT = "d MMMM yyyy h:mm:ss a";
-    private static DateFormat dateFormatterTimeAgo; // access via getTimeagoDateFormatter()
     
-    private static DateFormat getTimeagoDateFormatter() {
-	if (dateFormatterTimeAgo == null) {
-	    dateFormatterTimeAgo = new SimpleDateFormat(DateUtil.ISO8601_FORMAT);
-	    dateFormatterTimeAgo.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("GMT"));
-	}
-	return dateFormatterTimeAgo;
-    }
-    
     /**
      * Convert your local time to Universal Time Coordinator. TODO conversion is not working properly. The returned Date
      * object still contain server local timezone rather than GMT time zone.
@@ -272,7 +264,8 @@
      * Convert a date to the ISO08601 format needed for Timeago. Used to return dates through JSON.
      */
     public static String convertToStringForTimeagoJSON(Date value) {
-	return getTimeagoDateFormatter().format(value);
+	FastDateFormat dateFormatterTimeAgo = FastDateFormat.getInstance(DateUtil.ISO8601_FORMAT, TimeZone.getTimeZone("GMT"), null);
+	return dateFormatterTimeAgo.format(value);
 	
     }