In the 1950s and 1960s, Hong Kong’s tailoring trade was at its height, as many Hongbang tailors from Shanghai came to the city to make a living. It was in this era that Ascot Chang was founded, and it soon became one of the best-known names in bespoke menswear. For more than seventy years, the brand has remained rooted in Hong Kong. Even in an age of mechanised mass production, it has continued to keep its own workshop in the city, with every stage of the process carried out by hand. In every stitch, it preserves the care and discipline at the heart of traditional craftsmanship. Starting a business is one challenge; carrying it forward is another. From the late 1980s, Tony gradually assumed responsibility for his father’s business and, with quiet resolve, expanded its reach by opening shops on the mainland and overseas, bringing the craft of Hongbang tailoring to a broader stage. Seeing a growing break in Hong Kong’s tailoring trade in recent years, he chose to return to his hometown of Fenghua, Ningbo, to establish a factory. There, in the birthplace of Hongbang tailoring, he devoted years to training a new generation of craftspeople, helping to secure a new home for the craft’s continuation. As for Justin Chang, the third generation, he studied in the United States and later worked at the family’s New York shop, where he once met one of his grandfather’s old customers, who had brought along the next generation of his own family for a suit. That trust across generations touched Justin deeply and strengthened his resolve to carry the family business forward. After returning to Hong Kong more than a decade ago to assist Tony, he has continued to seek new ways to bring the craft to a wider audience, from filming Reels himself to collaborating with other menswear brands and helping organise the Hong Kong Suit Walk, Sartorial Asia 2025, with the hope of carrying this craft and its spirit forward. It is this spirit, first shaped by Ascot Chang’s courage in forging a life far from home and sustained by the generations that followed, that has deepened the family’s ties to home and country, while marking their place in Hong Kong’s own story of growth and change.

On tonight's The Current, we look at the government's first tender award for a major land parcel in the Northern Metropolis, part of the mega-project's Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area. We also look at a CUHK-led breakthrough, revealing how free-living soil bacteria fix nitrogen on their own, a discovery that could pave the way for natural biofertilisers for staple crops like rice. Finally, we examine new research from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University into how different environments and mental tasks affect a stroke survivor's ability to walk while multitasking, and how the findings are shaping more personalised rehabilitation therapy.

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On tonight's programme, we look at the Transport Department's new AI measures aimed at speeding up vehicle licence renewals and improving traffic flow at busy junctions, hear about a fresh push to help construction workers quit smoking following the industry-wide smoking ban, and find out how Hong Kong is strengthening its position as a leading sustainable fashion hub in Asia, according to the latest HKTDC ESG Index.