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He was a celebrity hairstylist, and then a wildly successful live streamer, but Addy Lee has found his new calling.
Last year, the 53-year-old suddenly began posting content about rabbits on his Instagram account.
Turns out, Addy has a new business venture as a — wait for this — rabbit breeder.
When 8days.sg reached out to Addy, who now lives in Bangkok, he shared that he initially applied for a retirement pass when he moved to Thailand last January.
“I wanted to do nothing, just walk, eat, sleep and wait to die. (Laughs) But after three, four months, it was very boring,” he chuckled.
He decided to start an animal breeding business with a friend, who’s from Mongolia, though their first project was not with rabbits.
“At first I had a few monkeys. I wanted to breed monkeys but it was very difficult. The expenses were very high and the monkeys also very high-maintenance,” he recalled.
He then bought a few rabbits, which, according to Addy, is the second most popular animal in Thailand now, and got introduced to other rabbit breeders.
“Rabbits are very fun, are easy to control and have very good character. They won’t run about and s*** everywhere,” he said.
Addy and his business partner now buy show-quality rabbits from the US. 50 per cent of these bunnies have a chance to be bred into more show quality rabbits and the other 50 per cent would be of “pet-quality”, aka the usual pet rabbits we see in pet shops.
The show-quality rabbits would be sent for competitions or can be sold for close to S$2K. More importantly, if they win, they help boost Addy’s reputation as a rabbit breeder.
His pet-quality bunnies are sold for roughly S$300, excluding shipping fees, to countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and China.
As of now, Addy has close to 200 rabbits, of which many are award-winning. They live on a 60,000 sq ft farm built by Addy.
Addy said he hired “Thailand’s top designer” to design the farm, which will eventually include an Airbnb, a cafe and a house, which Addy said he would live in.
Addy also shared that his life as a celeb crimper and live streamer in Singapore is a thing of the past.
Last November, Addy revealed he had to leave his live stream company Mdada, which he co-founded with Michelle Chia and Pornsak, because of health issues.
He only returns to Singapore now once every few months for health checkups and to go to the bank.
“These days, many people still ask me to cut their hair for them. I told them: ‘If you turn into a rabbit, then I’ll cut your hair for you’ (laughs),” he said, adding that he designs “beautiful hairstyles” for his rabbits now.
Some of his old clients have asked if they could fly to Thailand with a rabbit, so that Addy can cut the bunny’s hair and also theirs while he’s at it.
When asked if it’s easier to cut a rabbit’s hair than a human’s, he laughed and said when it comes to a rabbit, he can “cut whatever [he] wants”.
“Humans have preferences and can be bad-tempered. Sometimes they would dictate the way I cut their hair and I would pass them a pair of scissors and say: ‘You cut yourself lah. You go to the S$12 salon downstairs and cut. What for pay me S$500 to cut?’”
Addy added that he does find it a pity his hairstyling empire, Monsoon Hairdressing Group, no longer exists in Singapore.
He had sold the brand for “quite a good price” many years ago, but the business unfortunately folded after some time.
“My heart ached so badly. The worst part was that they also lost the shampoo line that I took 18 years to perfect,” he said.
He’s now working with doctors in Thailand to create products for his rabbits instead.
Addy did not reveal if his current bunny-breeding business is more lucrative than his hairstyling or live stream companies as he’s “still building” the brand.
When asked if he misses being in the limelight, Addy admitted that he was very sad when he first left Singapore.
“I was famous for so long, and if I tell you I wasn’t making a lot of money, I’d be lying,” he chuckled.
Taking care of rabbits, however, helped cure his depression.
“Before coming to Thailand, I went to a few psychiatrists and had to take medication every day. Then I started breeding bunnies and as I got better at it, my mood improved so much as well,” he said.