Stephen Chan Indicates No Intentions of Abandoning Gigi

Gigi Lai's younger brother Dr Stephen Lai has been in intensive care at Queen Mary Hospital since his accident over a month ago and there has been a lot of speculation recently about his condition. A report yesterday indicated that Dr Lai has been in a coma all along and after the severe trauma to his head, he has undergone surgery to remove part of his brain and there are fears that he will become blind in his right eye. Gigi has been hugely affected by the incident and has stopped working now for a month and a half, rushing to the hospital every day to visit her brother. As there is no return date set for Gigi to go back to work, filming for TVB's long series "Jewel's Splendor" has met with delays and overspending and there are suggestions that this is leading to resentment among the cast and crew. Asked about her brother's condition as she visited the hospital yesterday, Gigi did not say anything and her assistant addressed the reporters, saying: "We have not revealed any details of Dr Lai's condition to the media and they have just made things up. The press have been following and chasing us recently and have taken a lot of photographs, but they have not asked us any questions."

TVB General Manager Mr Stephen Chan indicated yesterday that losses were inevitable, but there is no intention of changing Gigi's role. Mr Chan says that after Dr Lai's accident, he has been in touch with Gigi to comfort her and sent her messages of support. He has also gained an understanding from her colleagues about the situation. The company will be understanding of Gigi and will try to jump to other scenes in her absence. Asked if they are suffering from serious overspending and delays, Mr Chan says that this is unavoidable, but no-one wants to delay proceedings. Will they consider changing the role? Mr Chan says that they have not reached this stage yet and Gigi has already filmed many scenes, so to change would be quite a headache. TVB External Affairs Assistant Director Mr Tsang Sing Ming also indicated that as Gigi is an important character in the series, then they will not delete her character. The company will allow her to deal with her personal affairs in peace so that she can return to work when she is ready.

source:
http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20070712/saa01/mbb1.txt
http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/ent/20070712/20070712002317_0000.html