Written by Vivien Yip
Photographs Courtesy of Director Alfred Sung

I had the pleasure of attending a charity screening of Alfred Sung’s The Last Stitch (2019) in support of Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation, courtesy of Fête Chinoise this December. It follows the director’s family from Repulse Bay in Hong Kong, where his parents Tommy and Connie owned and operated Repulse Bay Tailors, to Markham, Ontario where they grew new roots and continued their family business for decades.

I was immediately drawn to the film as the similarities to my own life surprised me. My grandfather was also a tailor. He and my grandmother also fled to Hong Kong during the rise of Communism on the mainland. They started new lives with little to nothing in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong. The little district would become a bustling one with its close proximity to Central and its government buildings. Sadly, my grandfather passed away in his forties before I was born. So I never had the chance to meet him in person but knew he was a tailor from my parents’ stories. Through this documentary, I felt as though I was able to see snippets of a tailor’s diasporic life. From building a business to acquiring apprentices, the process was full of challenges from city to city, country to country. Seeing the journey of Tommy and his father made me wonder if this was a similar life my grandfather led as well. In the film, I witnessed examples of the hardships my grandparents may have had to face in order to provide for their children and subsequently, their children’s children. It was an uncanny and unexpected connection. 

The documentary centers upon the idea of continuing one’s legacy. Tommy and Connie are looking to retire their craft as they are aging – it is at this moment that the family searches for the possibility of maintaining the family business. We see their second son, Simon, attempt to learn the skills required to create a cheongsam in order to explore if he has both desire and ability to carry the cheongsam legacy. We even see Simon’s young and inspired son design and create an outfit for his mother, with the help of their grandfather, Tommy.

The title of the film beautifully depicts this dilemma. At the screening, Alfred shared that the title is somewhat ambiguous – was it The Last Stitch (period) or The Last Stitch (question mark). As I watched the film, I could sense the pendulum swing between “The Last Stitch.” which suggests an end to the legacy and “The Last Stitch?” which suggests a future. The documentary explores the triumphs and struggles the Sungs’ experiences in life and leaves audiences without a definite answer as to whether Repulse Bay Tailors will continue its legacy into the next generation. 

For myself, as Canadian-born Chinese, it felt like I have already lost touch with my family’s roots in Hong Kong as the life my parents provided me was so different and so much more privileged than the lives led by my grandparents and themselves. I have come to the realization that the life we live is not just for ourselves, but the choices we make now has a ripple effect on the next generation. My grandparents and parents made many sacrifices in their lives so that the generations after them could have opportunities and potential for a better life. The Last Stitch reminded me to never forget those that came before me, who paved the way for me to live a privilege life in Canada. I will continue to learn about my culture so that the next generation will have a closer connection to Cantonese and perhaps even Mandarin.

It was a pleasure to see such a well-documented journey of family and immigration. Alfred Sung began filming his family while still in Hong Kong because of the influence of the Hong Kong cinematic success in the 1990s. He would return in 2014 to finish documenting his parents’ and his younger brother, who was attempting to take over the family business, in their own basement and personal home in Markham. While my own family’s journey has not been as beautifully or thoughtfully documented, it has inspired me to do so moving forward so that the next generations can learn and appreciate where they came from. No matter how many generations are to come, I will always want our Chinese cultural roots to flourish in their lives. To see the Sung family and their everyday lives and seemingly-ordinary immigrant experiences transported onto the silver screen truly reminds us that there are many extraordinary stories waiting to be told.