Clown struggles through pandemic by turning a frown upside down

TAIPING, Sept 6 -- Laughter has certainly been hard to come by, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but one man has decided to bring some cheer back to the community through a unique mix of work and clowning around.

Bouncing back after most of his kind were nearly ‘wiped out’ by the COVID-19 pandemic, Peewit de Clown, who brands himself as a ‘fogging clown’, is offering house-to-house sanitisation services as part of his effort to curb the spread of the disease.

The antics and determination displayed by Shahrul Hisam, 43, have not been in vain, and he has managed to slowly build a name for himself as he entertains his clients, especially children, who often get bored being cooped up at home.

Shaharul said he started dabbling in clowning, settling on the Auguste Clown persona, since 2012 and usually performed at celebration parties, especially Children’s Day and School Canteen Day events.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, however, he struggled to earn as a clown as such events were banned. 

"I started doing sanitisation work wearing a clown costume since the Movement Control Order 3.0 to be different and it has been well received and accepted by the public. Of course, I comply with the standard operating procedure by wearing a face mask and face shield, as well as maintaining physical distancing.

"I have several costumes sewn by my mother but I’ve chosen the Auguste Clown for its sunny disposition and character,” he said when met at his house in Kampung Aman, here.

Shaharul shared that although he took 15 to 45 minutes to transform into a clown, he only charged a mere RM50 for each house and he is genuinely happy for the opportunity to perform while working.

According to him, clowns share their experiences and exchange stories in associations like ‘Kami Clown’ that was established in 2012 and Muslim Clown Malaysia in 2019, with members throughout Malaysia. In Perak itself, there are almost 30 clowns who are part of Muslim Badut Malaysia Perak.

He said that clowns in Malaysia were hoping that the country could recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as possible so that events could be held as his income from sanitisation work could only reach around 30 per cent of what he previously earned.

Meanwhile, a client, Mohd Ezry Azmin Abdul Wahab, 41, said he was interested to engage the fogging clown’s services after reading another client’s post about it on Facebook recently.

"It is interesting to me, and very different from anything else as I’ve never heard of a clown doing sanitisation work before,” the father of three said.

-- BERNAMA