Hong Kong dancer Mo wins HK$6.29m compensation after ‘catastrophic’ injury at 2022 Mirror concert

HONG KONG, June 17 — A Hong Kong court has awarded HK$6.29 million (RM3.27 million) in compensation to dancer Li Kai-yin, known professionally as Mo, after a stage accident during a concert by Cantopop boy band Mirror left him with permanent and life-altering injuries.

According to Hong Kong Free Press, District Judge Phillis Loh ordered Studiodanz Company to pay the maximum compensation permitted under Hong Kong’s Employees’ Compensation Ordinance following the July 28, 2022 incident, in which a suspended LED screen crashed onto the stage during Mirror’s performance.

Li, who was 27 at the time of the accident, sustained critical injuries that resulted in what the court described as permanent total incapacity.

In a written judgment issued Monday, Loh described the incident as “a catastrophe to a young energetic person,” awarding damages across multiple categories, including total incapacity, medical expenses, lost earnings and the ongoing care required for Li’s condition.

Evidence presented before the court supported “the predicaments of [Li] in his permanently disabled condition, the need for constant lifetime attention and assistance in personal care and daily living activities, and the requirement of the current 3-carer regime, together with the medical staff and his parents,” the judge wrote.

“He is incapable of ever leading or appreciating an independent adult life,” Loh wrote.

Li, now 31, currently requires three carers to provide round-the-clock assistance, according to the judgment. His legal team argued that, based on official life expectancy projections for men in Hong Kong, he could live for another 53.29 years, a factor the court considered in awarding the maximum amount allowed for future care needs.

The compensation package includes HK$3.4 million for total incapacity, HK$644,710 for required attention and care, HK$1.97 million for lost earnings during his leave from work, and HK$254,400 in medical expenses. The court also ordered Studiodanz Company to pay interest and legal costs.

Loh found Li to be a “frank and honest” witness and accepted his testimony that he had earned an average monthly income of HK$66,857, including HK$3,200 in cash payments, in the year before the accident. Li gave evidence via video link during a hearing last month.

The judge also accepted written testimony from Li’s father, pastor Li Shing-lam, who died on April 25 shortly before the hearing. Prior to the accident, Li’s father had been serving as an interim senior pastor at Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church in Canada, earning an annual salary of CA$89,441.

Following his son’s injuries, he returned to Hong Kong and resigned from his position to become Li’s full-time caregiver.

“Since the Accident, as parents, the Father and his wife had devoted all their time in accompanying [Li] in treatments and taking care of him round the clock,” Loh wrote.

Studiodanz Company did not participate in the compensation proceedings. In 2023, the company was fined HK$132,000 after pleading guilty to five offences related to the accident. Engineering Impact and Hip Hing Loong were also fined HK$220,000 and HK$420,000 respectively over occupational safety breaches linked to the incident.

Separately, Li has filed claims in Hong Kong’s High Court against 11 companies, as well as the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, in connection with the accident. A hearing date has yet to be set.