How Eric Cheng, Hong Kong actor and DJ, tragically died days after engagement

Hong Kong DJ and actor Eric Cheng Kai-tai suddenly passed away under mysterious circumstances, a mere two days after announcing the happy news of his engagement to his longtime girlfriend. The news was first reported by 8days on February 5, 2024. This is his story.

Images are from cheng_kai_tai / Instagram unless otherwise stated.

Eric Cheng, also known as Eric Cheng Kai-tai, was a Hong Kong actor, television host, and emcee. He is best known for also being the disc jockey for Hong Kong’s Metro Radio.

Eric Cheng was born in Guangzhou, China on February 13, 1967. One interesting fact about him is that his Chinese name, Kai-tai, is the Cantonese dialect for the word 'sheep', which is fitting given that he was born in the zodiac year of the sheep.

According to an interview on RTHK Radio, Eric Cheng grew up in a neighbourhood that produced other celebrities. He was neighbours with Hong Kong cantopop singers Ekin Cheng and Sam Tsang, and the three were childhood neighbours.

Before entering showbiz, Eric Cheng revealed in the same RTHK Radio interview that he was working as a translator for one of Hong Kong’s largest paper mills after graduating from Canada’s University of Windsor and returning to Hong Kong.

Again, in the same interview, Eric Cheng revealed his beginnings in entertainment, saying that he only entered the industry after a sudden inspiration to work in radio after boredom at his job, where he sent in his application to work as a disc jockey for Hong Kong Commercial Radio.

During his time at Hong Kong Commercial Radio, Eric Cheng was under the tutelage of the now music director of the D100 music station in Hong Kong, Gary Ngan Luen Mo. Under Gary Ngan’s tutelage, Eric Cheng hosted two music programs alongside his peers at Hong Kong Commercial Radio.

Baidu reports that Eric Cheng moved on to Metro Radio in 1999 and moved up in ranks by later serving as the radio station’s executive producer and one of the radio’s main hosts.

According to Baike, Eric Cheng decided to leave his permanent position at Metro Radio and become a non-contract DJ for the station instead. He proceeded to join Asia Television to work as an emcee and voice actor for TV.

Eric Cheng also made appearances on TV as an actor. Some of his TV works include ‘Come Home Love: Lo and Behold’, ‘AI Romantic’, and ‘Childhood in a Capsule’.

Skypost reports that despite working for Metro Radio for years, Eric Cheng made a surprise announcement that he would be leaving permanently on his social media back in October 2023.

However, Eric Cheng would later rescind his decision and return to Metro Radio, Headline Daily reports, thanks to the urging of the station’s newly appointed director.

Prior to his passing, Eric Cheng was married to and later divorced from Hong Kong ex-actress Perrie Lai Hoi-shan, whom he also met while working at Metro Radio. The two had no children together, but Eric Cheng later had a daughter out of wedlock, reports HK01.

Sing Tao News reports that just a few days before his untimely and tragic passing, Eric Cheng had successfully proposed to his longtime girlfriend and Hong Kong roller skating queen, Angie Wang Yanzhi.

Image: siudou.taipei / Instagram

The same report from Sing Tao News states that Eric Chang suddenly encountered stomach and leg cramps and was rushed to the hospital on February 2. He fell into a sudden coma after being placed in the ICU. Then, on the 3rd of February, he passed away.

Given how Eric Chang was just celebrating a joyous occasion days before, his sudden passing is undoubtedly tragic. Yahoo News reports that Eric Chang had been a very healthy individual before his death, which added more to the mystery of the sudden onset of grave illness.

As Eric Chang’s actual cause of death was declared a mystery to his attending doctors, who were not able to figure out the cause, Oriental Daily reports that Eric Chang’s body will be examined by the coroner for a follow-up autopsy to investigate the cause of death, which is expected to take three weeks.

Follow Showbizz Daily to stay informed