Remember A Day | Boa constrictor strangling, lazy British workers, and Australian drink-driving convicts show up for rehabilitation – drunk: 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
A poodle with a huge appetite swallowed an interesting array of items, and skiving British workers accused of hurting the national economy also made headlines four decades ago this week.
August 20, 1978
● A common Chinese herbal medicine used as a cure-all for children had been found to contain a potentially deadly chemical. The substance, chloramphenicol, was discovered in phials of bo ying powder by government forensic staff after complaints were filed to the health department. The chemical is an antibiotic that can prevent bone marrow from producing red blood cells properly, and can lead to fatal aplastic anaemia when the body fails to replace worn out blood cells.
August 21, 1978
● The secretary for the New Territories, David Akers-Jones, admitted that the small-house policy could not be made “watertight” to prevent abuse by villagers obtaining concessionary grants from the government, either in the form of land or free building licences, and then reselling the houses at a profit. The policy, first introduced in late 1972, was meant to provide better housing for indigenous Hongkongers.
August 22, 1978