Surgical Scissors: Paul Lee

Paul Lee found this pair of scissors as a child in a playground by the municipal building in Boston’s Chinatown. Fascinated by the shiny object he held on to it and imagined a better future to aspire toward. It became a touch stone of inspiration for the rest of his life.

Included in the gallery here are photos of the Municipal Building and adjoining playground on Tyler St in Chinatown which was torn down and replaced by the Tai Tung Residential Complex, now a major community affordable housing site.  The Municipal Building had a gym, library branch and public baths.  Paul remembers using the public baths and going to the library.  After the library branch closed, Chinatown has been without a library branch for 60 years, soon to be remedied by the inclusion of a branch in a new affordable housing project currently being built by Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC) a few blocks up on Tyler St.  Paul is a founder and board member of ACDC.

Paul W. Lee is a retired corporate lawyer and one of the first Asian American partners at a Boston Law Firm.  Since his retirement over 10 years ago, he has been devoting myself to community serving, serving on the boards of ACDC, Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, the Boston Foundation, WGBH, Conservation Law Foundation and the Boston Public Library, in addition to the founding of the Asian Community Fund at the Boston Foundation and the Asian Business Empowerment Council (ABEC).