Tycoon pledges $10m to injured dancer

Tycoon Richard Li Tzar-kai, the ultimate boss of Mirror concert organizer MakerVille, will personally give HK$10 million to seriously injured dancer Mo Lee Kai-yin.

Li, who is chairman of PCCW, which is the parent company of MakerVille, went to Queen Elizabeth Hospital last week to discuss Lee's medical options and shared information with the dancer's family.

"Apart from the medical expenses the company has promised to cover, I will personally provide another HK$10 million to finance Mo and his family," Li said yesterday.

MakerVille is "fully cooperating with the government and the police in the investigation," he said.

Authorities are looking into a giant screen falling to the stage at the Hong Kong Coliseum on July 28 where they dancers were backing the boyband, injuring the three.

The incident has left Mo paralyzed from below the neck.

But Li said he wanted to provide assistance to 27-year-old Mo and his family as soon as possible and not wait for the cause of the accident and the responsibility to be clarified. "I understand that providing financial assistance will not help [Mo's family] in easing their pain, but I still hope to do my part to help Mo and his family during such a hard time," Li said.

And the HK$10 million given in support would not be affected by the result of investigations, he added.

Also yesterday, Music Nation and MakerVille responded to media inquiries to say that apart from Mo Lee they have been keeping in contact with two other injured dancers, Cheung Tsz-fung and Zisac Law Tak-chi. "The management executives of the company have met Mo's parents to express our sincere condolences," they added in a reply to The Standard.

"We have also promised to cover all medical expenses, to continue to assist Mo's family to find the most suitable treatment, and have dedicated staff to follow up on the family's needs. Our management executives also met Cheung Tsz-fung and Zisac Law Tak-chi to express our sincere condolences and to understand their needs. We have been providing them with assistance in terms of medical needs and their daily lives."

They also said they will continue to cooperate actively with the official investigation, and will be following progress in determining the cause of the incident.

Shirley Loo Nai-huen, executive director of the Family Development Foundation, who has been forwarding prayer letters from Lee's pastor father, Derek Li Shing-lam, said on her Facebook page on Sunday that the family thanked the public for caring and providing them with medical advice.

She quoted Mo's father as saying that Chinese medicine practitioners from the Hospital Authority have participated in the treatment, though the family was focusing on all forms of treatment.

She also called for more prayers from the public for Lee's recovery.

According to the latest prayer letter from Lee's father on Saturday night, the Baptist pastor said the family had spent the Mid-Autumn Festival together, adding that his son had started a second phase of treatment over the past week.

The father said too his son no longer requires the aid of a breathing machine after five weeks of treatment. He also called on people to pray for his son's recovery and for his respiratory system to improve.

"Kai-yin told us: 'I have accepted that I'm going to be under hospital treatment for a long time, and I will face it calmly,'" Li said.

"Although it is sad and we feel helpless to hear that as parents, I am relieved as he not only has a goal but also faith in God."