Chinatown History is happening in front of our eyes!

Tuesday February 12, 2008 at 10pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld

W
atch this CBC documentary about  Modernize Tailors (1903) - the last Chinese tailor shop in Vancouver Chinatown.


Bill Wong the tailor attended our 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner.  His son Steven paddles on our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.  This is a wonderful documentary that received a standing ovation at the Whistler Film Festival.

Bill and Jack's younger brother Milton Wong is one of Vancouver's important figures, and former chancellor of SFU, and known as the "grandfather of dragon boat racing" in Vancouver.  Both Milton and Steven were interviewed for a German public television documentary addressing multiculturalism in Vancouver.  The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team was featured too!
Check out: http://wstreaming.zdf.de/zdf/veryhigh/071219_toronto_vancouver.asx

My own family has known the Wongs for many year, my aunts and uncles went to school with many of the Wong family members.  My uncle Laddie works as a tailor at Modernize Tailors.

In 2004, both the "Wong Way" dragon boat team and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team participated in a workshop to carve dragon boat heads at the Round House Community Centre.


Check the Modernize Tailors Website:
http://www.modernizetailors.blogspot.com/



Tuesday February 12, 2008 at 10pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld
TAILOR MADE
A naïve apprentice and a hot, young master tailor are both interested in taking over a legendary tailor shop in Vancouver's Chinatown, but they'll have a hard time convincing the hard-working Wong brothers to retire.

Modernize Tailors opened in 1913, and in the 1950s Bill and Jack Wong took over from their father. Over the years, they've created suits for all occasions and for customers from all walks of life-from lumberjacks and new immigrants to movie stars like Sean Connery and politicians like Sam Sullivan, the Mayor of Vancouver.

Now, a newer generation is looking to make their mark and take over the Modernize Tailors legacy. But will the 85-year-old Wong Brothers ever stop working?

Tailor Made was directed by Len Lee and Marsha Newbery, and produced by Marsha Newbery of Realize Entertainment Inc. It was commissioned by CBC Newsworld.