Remember A Day | A falling space station, choppers to Macau and fear of oranges: Hong Kong headlines from four decades ago
A journey back through time to look at significant news and events reported by the South China Morning Post from this week in history
China’s space dreams were on their way to becoming reality when it was reported 40 years ago that the country was on the verge of sending its first man into space. The feat was eventually achieved in 2003. Back on Earth, legendary casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun was envisioning a more humble transport first – a helicopter shuttle between Hong Kong and Macau.
January 29, 1978
● Ho had applied for territorial overflight rights through mainland Chinese airspace as part of plans for the helicopter service between Hong Kong and the then Portuguese territory. Initial flights were to be supported by two SA330J choppers each with a passenger capacity of 14.
● Police were standing by at Pak Kau English School in Yuen Long as 800 pupils and their 10 teachers staged a demonstration against the school’s decision to start their Lunar New Year holiday on January 30 – a week earlier than scheduled. The reason was to enable workmen to repair the school’s drainage systems.
● The British Foreign Office was moving to disband the Information Research Department – its secret anti-communist propaganda arm. It was set up in 1947 on the orders of then prime minister Clement Attlee when the cold war began to intensify.