The Royal London Circus: Asalnya di Teluk Danga?

Entri kali ini sebenornye bercampur-baur perasaan teman. Walaupon hanya sekeping kertas flyers "The Royal London Circus", ianya tidak hanya menggambarkan senyuman dan keseronokan pengunjungnya. Masih ada kisah sedih di sebalik sarkis yang popular suatu ketika dahulu ini.

Adakah anda tahu bahawa sarkas sebenarnya bukan dari LONDON, tetapi produk tempatan!

Ya, ianya berasal dari Teluk Danga, Johor Bharu dan bukan dari luar negara :)

Sekitar tahun 90-an, sarkis menjadi tarikan yang sangat kuat. Dengan promo disepanjang lebuhraya PLUS dan TV3, sarkis ini berjaya menarik kanak-kanak untuk memujuk ibu bapa mereka apabila ia datang ke Lembah Klang terutamanya pada musim cuti sekolah.

Dan tahukah komer bahawa sarkis ini pernah mengalami sejarah gelapnya?

http://wongfookyee.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post_12.html

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2003 - THE ROYAL LONDON CIRCUS

Owner Paul L.B. Lee and wife Doris Lee, Royal London Circus has 40 performers from 14 countries, the majority of whom are Mexicans.

After the show, instead of following the crowd stream toward the exit, we look around the compound for interesting things. We saw a corner where the small horses/ponies are so we walked to the horses. There are the small cute horses. I aimed my camera to snap a photo for souvenir but suddenly at the dark corner another side, a voice shouted to me. It was the worker who looks after the animal. I understand it means ".. no photo allowed, go out, it’s late and we are closing our gate..."

There were 3 elephants the circus has. But today we saw only 1 performing.

4 years ago in December 1999 two of the three elephants died from the sudden cold hit in Shanghai, China. Veterinarians from Shanghai Zoo rushed to the circus immediately after they heard the elephants were ill.

The Malaysian elephants are used to living in a tropical environment and can't bear the cold winds .

The elephant we saw performing tonight name Aidi age 11. The only survivor of the 3.
Source : http://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=4622

The same night these 2 young elephant of the circus die, a baby boy (human) of the circus was born.

“Shanghai”, name of the baby boy, was born to 19-year-old Greek mother, Sofia Fateka, who joined the circus the previous year 1998 in Athens, and acts as a teeter board player. The baby's father, Bautista Armando from Mexico, also performs on a teeter board.

The baby, weighing 3.9 kilograms, was born at the Shanghai International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital.

"We have nicknamed the baby Shanghai to mark its extraordinary birth," Sofia Fateka the mother said.
Source : http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/history/00-01-14/c04-cold.html

Aidi, the young elephant, survived a sudden cold in Shanghai while his 2 partners died 4 years ago. But Aidi himself carelessly cause his trainer dead recently.

The circus was in Sandakan in October last month before arriving Tawau this month November.

On 22 October 2003, during a routine practice session on the circus ground at Sandakan’s Sibuga Sports Complex, Aidi carelessly swing a powerful lash of the trunk to his trainer, 40 year-old Amanat, who had 20 years experiences in animal training in Indonesia.

The trainer Amanat sustained serious abdominal and head injuries after hurled against a container before falling onto the ground. The unconscious Amanat was warded at the intensive care unit (ICU) of Duchess of Kent Hospital.

The following day hospital staff removed the life support system after Amanat showed signs of recuperating. Amanat could talk 2 days later but he develops high fever, low blood pressure and irregular heart beat and died a few hours later. This is the first dead incident case in the history of Royal London Circus.
Source : http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=22522

The remains of the Indonesian elephant trainer Amanat flown back to his hometown in Jawa Tengah for burial. While the circus continue the carnival to Tawau where we are watching tonight.