VOL II No. 356 SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 1946. PRICE 10 Cents A Bird's Eye View by Argus A brain is as strong as its weakest think. * * * March didn't come in like a lion. More like a salamander. * * * 'And what did you do in the great war Daddy?' 'I got my alibi ready.' * * * A three pence is not as good as a six pence - though it goes to church more often. * * * Macao's gambling king is still missing. Perhaps somebody has him up their sleeve. * * * Latest prediction: We're going to get what's coming to us on All Fools' Day. * * * Servicemen like to read books on chemistry. But isn't it better to go to a doctor? * * * A judge complains that pedestrians are prone to carelessness. Anyhow, a good many are prone. * * * Petrol tax is to be 80 cents a gallon again. That groan you heard didn't come from a jeep driver. * * * I suspect that the tax on toilet preparations is a dirty swipe at the manly curls one sees around the place. * * * The weather is extremely cold in England. But, we trust, it will be nice and warm in the Colonial Office.
SENTENCE OF DEATH Villager Found Guilty Of Mother's Murder Tai Po Village Crime The first death sentence to be passed since the establishment of the British Military Administration was made at the General Military Court yesterday, when Lam Tim-cheung, 27, a villager of Kam Shan Village, Tai Po, was found guilty of the murder of his adopted mother, Li Sze-kiu, 49, on January 12 last. The Court comprised Mr Leo d'Almada (President), Mr Horace Lo and Major C.F. Miles.
Accused, who pleaded not guilty, was defended by Mr W.C. Hung. Mr F.X. d'Almada prosecuted, assisted by Acting Chief Detective Inspector N.B. Fraser. A 13-year-old-boy, Wong Tin-sang, said that he was awakened early one morning in Kam Shan Village by the sound of a shot. He then heard someone calling for help. He went to the door of his house and saw a man, whom he could not recognise, pass by. Yau Kwok-chung, vegetable gardener, said that he knew the deceased woman.
She was murdered on January 12. He saw her that morning standing outside her house with both hands pressed to her side. He took her to Tai Po Dispensary and then reported to the Police. Asked if he could identify Accused, witness said he had never seen the man before. Deceased, he continued, had an adopted son named Lam Tin-cheung, whom she had bought at the age of six. Witness knew Lam; and last saw him on the hillside about 200 feet from his adopted mother's house on the morning of the murder. Witness was then told to take a good look at Accused.
After he had done so, he said that the man looked very much like Lam Tim-cheung. Lam, he added, had been driven from his home by the deceased after the Japanese capture of the New Territories because he was a bad son. Always Quarrelled Cross-examined by Mr Hung, Witness said that he now recognised Accused, who did not appear to be as fat as he was prior to his arrest. Accused and his adopted mother always quarrelled, he said. Li Cho-shau, clansman of the deceased, said that the woman owned some paddy fields, two or three houses and a cow. Accused was her adopted son.
Questioned by Mr Hung, witness admitted that he stood to benefit materially through his mother's death. Lance-Sergeant Lam Hon, of Tai Po Police Station, said that Accused was brought to the station by a man on January 15. He cautioned Accused, who said 'I shot my mother once.' Opium Dens Raided Vigilance of Police In Western District Over Ten Arrests Demonstrating that the Police are vigilant in suppressing the evil of opium smoking in Hong Kong, no fewer than four different addresses at West Point were raided by Police parties led by Detective Sub-Inspector Lam Yung-hon and Chinese detective Yuan Chu-win on Friday evening.