Chet and Savy, Ted Ngoys oldest children, sit down for an interview in The Donut King.. They were moving their capital and know-how into liquor stores, markets and fast-food restaurants. I'm not famous. COVID-19 has hit her store and most other shops hard. Ngoy would often visit Las Vegas for a period of a week, unbeknownst to his wife. One night, he saw Suganthini on her balcony, and decided it was time to make his move. But from then on, every store Ngoy and his wife bought or opened they named Christys Doughnuts. Suganthini's family insisted Ted break it off by telling her he didn't love her. In order to be allowed to leave the camp and find work, they needed an American sponsor, who would find them a job and somewhere to live. The following month, US President Gerald Ford insisted the US should welcome 130,000 refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia, telling any critics: "We're a country built by immigrants from all areas of the world, and we've always been a very humanitarian nation.". Christys Doughnuts in La Habra never did great business. He did not fare well in either the 1993 or 1998 parliamentary elections, but his friend, Prime Minister Hun Sen, made him an advisor on commerce and agriculture. Soon, Cambodians began copying the Ted Ngoy business model. When you first reached out to Ted, it was a cold call. 2023 BBC. [citation needed] Ngoy's political career ended in 2002 after breaking with two powerful allies, the commerce minister and the head of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce, Teng Bunma. and California landscape with a familiar coat yellow strip mall signs with red lettering reading Christys Donuts. Ted and Christy are divorced. He wrote a book called The Donut: History, Recipes, and Lore from Boston to Berlin and he gave really fascinating insights into donut culture, history and our relationship to donuts in America. She thought Ted was joking, but he was serious. "Well, it is because I've fallen in love with you," Ted replied. This documentary tells Ted Ngoy's story that is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks, and redemption. He shaved his head and spent three months barefoot in Thailand, coming back emaciated and a changed man - or so he thought. He found a second job at a gas station. in Irvine, All the latest on Orange County from Orange County. Phnom Penh Post What you've done is incredible.' [10] Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. Yes, you read that right. Gambling is a devil. Theres also the moment where Ted revisits his former home in Mission Viejo. There were some hurt relationships. It was hurtful. He went on to marry Suganthini Khoeun, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. Gu says Christy's family then threatened to kill Ted but his mother made a deal with them. "It went like fire on the hill, so fast," says Ted. He wrote a note, telling her that he lived in the building opposite and was the flute player. Soldiers and dogs guarded the mansion. When he couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. As many as I could.". Then when dinner is ready, she knocks on the door and I open the door to have dinner.". It's a monster in me.". Beautiful views aren't the only thing drawing Angelenos to the region. One by one, Ted lost all of his donut shops. They had lost their beautiful home and their chain of shops, but still had enough money to live comfortably. "It's a crazy story, but it's true," says Ted, now 78. [2], In 1967, Ngoy was sent by his mother to study in the capital, Phnom Penh, where he met and married Suganthini Khoeun, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. The world moves so quickly now, but I do believe that it is still real and it is still possible. It led many voters to assume, incorrectly, that he was against Cambodia's royal family, and he didn't win a seat. [8], Author Ryka Aoki describes Ngoy as legend in our Asian-American community and inspiration for her award-winning novel Light From Uncommon Stars for both his stealing books process and the legacy of Cambodian-American donut shops in Southern California. LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network. He became Ted. Then he opened his first independent shop in La Habra, eventually covering the rest of O.C. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). I dont think you dare come to my room, she responded. When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. Long hours. "I spent about $100,000 of my own money, my time, my everything," he says. "a short-lived comeback in Sacramento in 2002," the Massachusetts-based company didn't return to the Golden State Inspired by the economic success of Taiwan, Ted decided to lobby the US for "most favoured nation" status, which would open the door to foreign investment. Her brother-in-law, Sutsakhan Sak, was chief of police and would become, briefly, the countrys president. Devastated that he had broken their pact, she filed for divorce. Instead, she told him about a training programme run by the doughnut chain, Winchell's. He took two additional jobs, working almost 24 hours per day. When Christy's parents eventually discovered the ruse, they were furious. Ted wrote one day. I never will be able to pay back. At school, Ngoy fell in love from afar with a beautiful girl. In Cambodia, Ngoy formed the Free Development Republican Party. ", Alice Gu's documentary, The Donut King, is available in the US now in theatres and online and will be coming to the UK in 2021, Listen to Ted Ngoy on Outlook: How the Donut King lost his crown (produced by Maryam Maruf), Ted Ngoy's autobiography is called The Donut King: the rags to riches story of a poor immigrant that changed the world. He hosted Dan Quayle and Pete Wilson at his house. The whole community banded together and they all agreed to sell him out of donuts every morning by 9 a.m. "I just wanted to raise pigs and chickens and have enough meat and eggs to take to . The documentary goes back and forth between Ngoy and the present-day lives of second- and third-generation donut shop kids or what Gu refers to as Donut Generation 2.0. It provided a path for refugees to settle and was a profitable business model. I go to borrow. Ngoy fled with his wife, three young children, two cousins and a nephew to the United States in 1975. He said hes Chinese Cambodian and we spoke Mandarin for a couple of minutes. Peace Lutheran Church And she was heavily chaperoned. A new documentary chronicles the fascinating saga of Ted Ngoy, "The Donut King," who made a fortune and then lost it all to a gambling addiction. Ted Ngoy has become a stranger even to himself. Cambodian Americans control an estimated 80 percent of the donut market in California thanks largely to one man- Ted Ngoy, otherwise known as The Donut King. They both drank and vowed to be faithful. For weeks, they watched other families leave, until finally they, too, were sponsored by a pastor from a church in Tustin, Orange County, about 35 miles south of Los Angeles. His few shirts and pants hang from a clothesline. Christy always forgave him, but word got around that Ted could no longer be trusted. Despite his success, he said, he felt unhappy and isolated. Doughnuts offered an escape from years of welfare dependency. The Donut King He believed he could show others the path to wealth and opportunity. Ngoy would make a habit of returning monthly to watch performers such as Tom Jones, Diana Ross, and Wayne Newton and indulging in the incentives pit bosses of major casinos offered all the while spending even larger sums at the card tables. In 1975, Ted Ngoy fled the war in Cambodia with his wife and three kids and arrived in America as a penniless refugee. The stranger who crept into her room more than 35 years ago is a stranger again. , the The Donut King Ted Ngoy is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of donut shops in California, earning him the nickname the "Donut King." . Ted became deeply religious. He hired his wife and nephew. Some of those he borrowed from were the people he had leased doughnut shops to. Ted now had a new passion - politics. Christy would search for him in the casinos, the children in tow. I just do it.. "[10], Whittaker said that "as Asian Americans face increasing racism, its closing message about how immigrant communitiesdefine America has only become more timely."[8]. Read about our approach to external linking. The next day, he flew back to Los Angeles. The ubiquity and low overhead of these Cambodian mom-and-pop donut shops helped drive Dunkin' Donuts out of California in the late '90s. Before sunrise, they would climb back into her room. Pit bosses, floor men and dealers at Caesars Palace, the MGM Grand and the Mirage got to know the Cambodian doughnut king. They barely talked to him. In 1978 Vietnamese troops invaded and in 1979 Pol Pot was overthrown, leading to another wave of Cambodian refugees. The family worked 12 to 17 hours a day, with all hands on deck. And of the 5,000 independent doughnut shops in California today, around 80% are still Cambodian, she says. Ted and a lot of the Asians who came aligned themselves with the Republican party. Doing this film was really an exploration for me of understanding where you come from. The entire family Christy and the three kids worked alongside him. I cry. Over the years, he led thousands of his countrymen into the business. Las Vegas was the new thing, he said, besides making money and making doughnuts,. These are all people who present day you dont associate with welcoming refugees with open arms. It was a strategy that ended up working for them. COVID origins? in Tustin sponsored the family, allowing them to live in the church where Ted worked as a janitor. He left behind his new wife and their two children, and what he had seen as his last chance at redemption. Because of the Ngoys, a Cambodian refugees first American job was often in a doughnut shop. It was on the market. He sat on the roof of his apartment and played his flute, the music sweeping over the neighborhood. In this condensed and edited conversation, Gu talks about the American dream, Cambodian American Republicans, 1970s Orange County and the best donut she ate during filming. And he saw an opportunity. Once back in Orange County, he bet more than ever. ", He communicates with them almost every day. In 1967, his mother sent him to study in Phnom Penh, the capital. "'You want to tell my story? "It made me homesick," says Ted. Word spread. When you get to the table, youre so emotional, evil in your body, he said. , to name a few outlets), but Alice Gu is the first to put it on film. They saw Elvis Presley perform, and Ted played a little blackjack. Despite the villa's armed security guards and guard dogs, one rainy night Ted climbed up a coconut tree and over the barbed wire and made his way in through a bathroom window. Also, significantly for Ngoy, other Cambodian refugees and their children donuts. Nearly every independent donut shop in every Southern California mini-mall hides a story and many of them start with an unlikely impresario, a Cambodian refugee named Ted Ngoy. "It's a devil, it's a monster. Still homeless, he moved to the coastal town of Kep, on the Gulf of Thailand. Huge numbers of Cambodian refugees were arriving in California. Gu first needed to find Ted Ngoy but she had no idea how to do it. Theyre savvy, young, hip. The two had met as teenage classmates in Phnom Penh. It's so amazing, so touching.' (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment) When you first reached out to Ted, it. Ted and Suganthini sold everything they had and arrived in California on one of the first refugee flights, with their three children, an adopted nephew and two nieces. Alongside doughnuts, they sell imported American goods - everything from Pop-Tarts to Starbucks Frappucinos. Then Ngoy would fly to Las Vegas without telling her, sometimes staying as long as a week. He has to start a new life.. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. The Cambodians worked hard and because the whole family pitched in, they did not have to pay out any wages. Bush, met former Presidents Reagan and Nixon, and urged other Asian immigrants to support the GOP. It was love at first bite. It's something Ted feels a bit bad about. So he named his own political party the Free Development Republican Party. Even in gambling. Ngoy managed to escape just as Phnom Penh was falling and brought his wife, Suganthini, and their three children to America in the mid-1970s. Everybody cry," he said. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Suspected shooter in attacks on Jewish men was on FBIs radar, LAPD chief says, Caregiver accused in Manhattan Beach child sexual abuse case believed to be in Philippines, Prosecution presents closing arguments in Alex Murdaugh murder trial, Intel agencies say theres no sign adversaries were behind Havana syndrome, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Its really bad up here. Stranded residents in San Bernardino Mountains brace for more snow, Jaguars, narcos, illegal loggers: One mans battle to save a jungle and Maya ruins, Dr. Simi is a TikTok star. They had a vacation home in Big Bear and a time share in Acapulco. Ted's parents and sisters fled across the border to Thailand, and Ted got a call from the US embassy there asking if he would sponsor them to live in the US. Ted Ngoy was reaping rewards of that success. Ted remembers hiding from her behind the slot machines. Then he had his next great idea. Director Alice Gu makes her film debut with The Donut King, following the life of Ted Ngoy. Those are the sounds of a man in love, her mother said. In less than two years, while working on other jobs and projects, Gu directed and shot the 94-minute documentary. That phrase Donut King is already so eye-catching right off the bat. When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, they knew they couldn't go home. And it was actually a donut that I refused at first from Mayly Tao, the Donut Princess. Few foods are as universally adored as fried dough. In 1990, after disappearing for another disastrous trip to Las Vegas, he flew to Washington, D.C., and joined a Buddhist monastery. Chuong Lee, who has run DK's Donuts since 1988, is officially retired although she occasionally helps out at the shop. After cry, go back gambling." People made fun of his accent. 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