Slice of Life
From the South China Morning Post this week in: 1971
Sydney, May 2
Qantas paid A$500,000 to a man named 'Mr Brown' who said he had planted a bomb aboard one of its jets bound for Hongkong. Qantas general manager Captain Robert Ritchie handed the man the cash outside the airline's Sydney headquarters. The handover was done as the Boeing 727, with 116 passengers and 12 crew, circled above Botany Bay near Sydney airport to burn up fuel before attempting to land. The jet had been turned back from near Brisbane about 600 miles north of Sydney, after Mr Brown directed officials to a bomb in a locker at Sydney airport. He said a similar bomb was aboard Flight 755 to Hongkong via Darwin. Police could not find the suspect or the money. The flight arrived at Kai Tak 12 hours behind schedule.
Singapore, May 29
The government forced the 10-month-old Singapore Herald to cease publication by withdrawing its printing licence. The action was the climax to a campaign by Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew against the paper. Mr Ambrose Khaw, the Herald's editor-in-chief, has insisted throughout the crisis on his right as a loyal Singaporean to criticise aspects of government policy in the public interest and without endangering national security. The paper has been under government attack because its majority shareholders are foreigners and for its editorial policies, which the government said were not in the best interests of Singapore. The Herald had a staff of 200 journalists and production workers.
It was the second newspaper to close in a fortnight. The English-language Eastern Sun was closed after Mr Lee alleged that it received financial backing from communist intelligence agents in Hongkong. The owners never denied the charge.
The latest closure meant Singapore's English-language press returned to a monopoly, with the Straits Times group now owning the sole paper.
Los Angeles, May 29
Susan Atkins, already sentenced to death in the seven Sharon Tate murders, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of a musician. The 23-year-old member of Charles Manson's hippie-style clan was termed 'a danger to any community' by Superior Court Judge Raymond Choate, who said she should spend 'her entire life in custody'. She admitted killing musician Gary Hinman on July 27, 1969, when she testified during the Tate trial. Manson and another follower, Bruce Davis, were also charged with causing Hinman's death.
Hongkong, May 29
For the first time in the 2,500-year history of the Dragon Boat Festival, three women's teams took part in an exhibition race at the Taipo waterfront. The teams were from Chinese University, the Girl Guides and women fisherfolk. Some traditionalists feared women would bring 'bad luck' to the festival, but the sea was calm and the weather good despite the No1 typhoon warning. The Chinese University team of European and Chinese women kept the thousands of people amused by paddling towards the main stand instead of the finish line. The 'dragon head' crashed into the bamboo folding around the stand as the girls lost control. The men went to their rescue.
Hongkong, May 31
The largest number of illegal immigrants from China since the 'big exodus' of 1962 is expected this year. Unofficial figures showed an average of 50 refugees have fled to the Colony each week since January.
Despite the increase of security forces along the Kwangtung coastlines, young Chinese still risk their lives in trying the 'freedom swim' across Deep Bay. Most of the 'freedom swimmers' are young students assigned to work in the countryside.
Local villagers are reluctant to help the refugees. 'What happened to two kind-hearted villagers here years ago is still vivid in our minds,' said a Ha Tsuen villager, Mr Tang Kook-wai.
Both men - one gave a warm meal to a refugee and the other handed two dollars to a young freedom swimmer - were arrested.
