bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Virginia Maher

From the South China Morning Post this week in 1960

A seven-year-old schoolboy was found to be a drug addict by his mother.

The Chinese press  reported that the boy was seriously ill and was being treated in a private clinic.

His mother became suspicious  because the boy's health deteriorated and he started frequently asking for pocket money.

He told his mother that he was forced to smoke 'certain cigarettes' in April of the previous year at the point of a dagger held by a drug peddler in Mongkok and how, since then, he had to pay about 40 cents every day for  the drug.

Doctors worked desperately to save an eight-year-old's life as his mother lay in a hospital bed recovering from surgery, unaware of the tragedy.

Keith Clarke's distraught father, Royal Artillery Sergeant Major G. Clarke,  said staff at the British Military Hospital were trying to ensure his wife did not get to hear about her son's accident.

Keith and a group of other children went to play near the Boundary Street railway bridge crossing and he was later found lying in a one-metre-deep  hole  near the railway track.

Doctors operated on Keith, who had suffered severe head injuries, and his condition was improving.

Sergeant Major Clarke said the children were laying bamboo across the railway track when the morning train approached.

The others scattered but Keith ran alongside the  train.  A carriage caught his arm and spun him  into the hole.

On average, one baby a day was found abandoned in Hong Kong, according to the Far Eastern representative of the International Social Service.

She said many of the babies had been adopted through the intervention of the  organisation, which had branches in New York, Rome, Geneva and many other places.

The agency not only dealt with adoptions,  it also tried to help families and individuals with all kinds of problems.

In particular,  it tried to  reunite members of families who, through migration as refugees during the war, had become separated.

With the approach of the Lunar New Year this month, did you know...

The longer children stay up on Lunar  New Year's Eve, the longer their parents will enjoy life.

Before the new year, all debts must be paid and all bills must be settled.

The house must be thoroughly cleaned from top to bottom.

During customary visits to friends and relatives, red paper packets containing money are given to children for good luck.

New brides must wear their ceremonial dress on each new year's day for at least three years.

People in mourning never go visiting because others believe they will bring them back luck.

Many people abstain from meat to avoid killing on  this day.

The old-fashioned way of dismissing an employee at the new year is to give mo ching gai -  when the boss gives the person being sacked a chicken wing during the company feast. It signifies his wish to let the person fly to a better job.

Many believe that God created men on the seventh day, and so men are not punished or sentenced on that day.

Huge crowds of curious onlookers and unsuitable light forced the shooting of The World of Suzie Wong to be abandoned for an afternoon.

Thousands of spectators ignored police and restraining barriers, spilling across the road and milling around the cast and cameras.

Cameramen were severely hampered by the throng of eager gate-crashers as they  attempted to film William Holden walking through Central  streets carrying a suitcase.

When the crowd became uncontrollable and the natural lighting started to become unsuitable, Paramount Pictures  cancelled scheduled scenes showing Holden mingling in a bustling marketplace.



slice of life