by Dr. Iain Corness
If
you have ever had the ambition to join a circus, or even run away with one
for while, this pales into insignificance compared to Paul Lee, who first
became involved with circuses in 1983 and bought his own in 1988. To do
that he needed an unshakable belief in himself, to go along with his
unshakable belief in Catholicism. “A great part of my life has been a
blessing from the Lord,” said Paul, sitting back in his trailer home,
surrounded by circus bric-a-brac and overseen by two statuettes - one of
Jesus Christ and the other of the Virgin Mary.
Paul is Malaysian, born in Klang (Malaysia) and is the
eldest of seven children born to a printer and his wife. After school he
was expected to help around the printing presses, and it was presumed that
he would take over the printing business, in the usual Asian way, when he
was older. But Paul had other ideas. “I try to look beyond where I
am,” said Paul. And at that time he was looking at the UK. So contrary
to his parent’s wishes, he went to the UK to finish his education. “It
was enhancing my education, and it was a lot of fun!”
He stayed in the UK for a few years, got his
qualifications in real estate, but then decided he should return to
Malaysia, but not by any straight line route. Paul worked his way through
a host of countries before returning to the family home. He had already
joined the JC’s and that organization assisted him in the various
countries. “I was a restless young man looking for new pastures,” he
said.
Despite his restlessness, he did have one constancy in
his life. He loved the entertainment industry. Even at school, Paul was
the one organizing talent quests, and later in life he was to run fashion
shows, beauty pageants (including Miss World), the bigger the better, for
the young man. This came from within himself, “I had this yearning to be
involved,” as nobody in his family had shown any inclination towards
this field of endeavor.
From the ages of 18 to his late 30’s he promoted
tours and shows with many stage artists, including Tom Jones and Englebert
Humperdink (now there was a man who wanted to be a ‘big name’)!
In 1983 he changed from recording artists to the Big
Top, having watched circuses himself since the age of 12, bringing the
British Gerry Cottle Circus to Singapore and Malaysia. This was a
successful tour, but there were many unanswered questions in Paul’s
mind. He began by asking the performers, but this was not enough for his
crash course in circus management. He went around the world himself,
offering his services free of charge to assist in different circuses.
These included some small circuses, but also some very large famous ones
like Ringling, Barnum and Bailey. This was certainly a novel way to learn
the business in a hurry!
By this stage, the Malaysian promoter with an interest
in circuses was becoming well known in Europe and he was invited to a
circus festival in the UK. There he was to meet Richard Chipperfield of
the famous Chipperfield’s Circus and was to pull off probably the most
audacious deal in the recent history of circuses. He offered to take a 50
percent stake in the Chipperfield’s Circus. Richard Chipperfield was
interested, and with 75 pounds each they formed a limited company with a
half share for both of them. This company would control the circus. With
the circus conservatively valued at half a million pounds, Paul was going
to have to stump up 250,000 pounds. It was an incredulous Richard
Chipperfield who was then told that his new “partner” did not have the
money! In fact, it sounded to me as if Paul had to scrape to get the 75
pounds to register the limited company anyway.
However, Paul convinced the Chipperfields that he had
the contacts to organize a tour of Asia, which would return a handsome
profit, as well as allowing Paul to pay for his stake. One month after
this agreement was struck, Paul was ringing Richard Chipperfield, telling
him to come at once to Indonesia, as he needed his signature on the
contract to promote the circus there. He had pulled it off, and took the
circus to Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines.
There was indeed enough money to make it a profitable deal for the
Chipperfields, and enough money for Paul to pay for his share! When I
remarked on the audacity he showed in getting involved in such a deal,
Paul said, “I was born with a confident mentality. Obstacles there will
always be, but if they are man-made, you can overcome.” It was also then
that he mentioned his deep Catholic faith. “A great part of my life has
been a blessing from the Lord. Many things, which I call ‘miracles’
have happened to me.” Amongst these have been surviving earthquakes (7.6
on the Richter scale), revolutions and 170 kph hurricanes which de-roofed
all the houses around him, but left the big top standing.
In 1988 he purchased the Chipperfield’s 50 percent
and renamed the circus as the Royal London Circus, and has been touring
with it ever since.
Whilst Paul is obviously a successful businessman,
making money has not been his driving force or ambition. “I have no aim
to be a multi-millionaire. The circus is a deep-rooted passion. It is an
adventure that ordinary people can never have. Words alone cannot describe
the satisfaction in seeing the joy in people’s faces.”
He also shares that “joy” by being involved in
charity work, and even donates the first night’s takings totally to
charity and gives away many hundreds of seats to underprivileged children.
The circus is here in Pattaya till November 27, so you still have time
to share in that “joy” too. I have seen the show, it is worthwhile!
