Ngoy and his wife became American citizens and were . [5] And he said he saw her heart break before his very eyes. By 1976, Ted had saved up enough money to buy his own shop, which he named Christy's. Then he pulled a knife. He woke her up and she was about to scream for help, when she realised it was her classmate. [10] Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. One of them being my interview with Michael Krondl, the food historian. Her parents wanted nothing to do with him. He says his gambling is under control -- though he has no money with which to test this will power. He remarried and had four more children - the youngest two are still at school. [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. He took a real estate class but said he couldnt retain the details. Mismanagement, Sloppy Hiring Practices, Lack Of Transparency. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit He became tired running doughnut shops on his own and decided to train and lease shops to his relatives and employ Cambodian refugees. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot. It was a strategy that ended up working for them. Still homeless, he moved to the coastal town of Kep, on the Gulf of Thailand. Ngoy bought his first doughnut shop from a couple who was retiring. On Sundays he would go to the church where her son was the pastor and join in Bible studies. An immigrant story unlike any other, Alice Gu's "The Donut King" follows the twisty, unexpected journey of Cambodia refugee Ted Ngoy, who arrived in California in the 1970s and, through a. Ted became deeply religious. "She was so beautiful," he remembers. Then he flew to a monastery in the Thai countryside. Ted wrote one day. After completing the company's training program, they gave him the keys to a store in Newport Beach. Heres a list, Greek transportation minister resigns over train collision as death toll keeps rising, Ohios senators to unveil rail safety bill in wake of East Palestine derailment, After months of pounding, Ukrainian official says military may pull back from Bakhmut, Elizabeth Holmes cites her new baby as a reason she should avoid prison for Theranos scam. Once a paragon in the community, refugees now avoided him for fear of being asked for a loan. Theres a hustle to it, and director Alice Gu captures it in her debut documentary The Donut King.. The rise & fall of The Donut King. ", But in the end, he says, he beat it. He has to start a new life.. At loose ends, she returned to Los Angeles and, once again, started helping with the family business. Chuong Lee, who has run DK's Donuts since 1988, is officially retired although she occasionally helps out at the shop. He had $50,000 riding on many Sundays. Also Jerry Brown, who weve seen in California as our beacon of hope and morality, in 1975 was actually the opposite. They married and started a family, and life was good until civil war broke out in 1970, between the government and the communist Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot. Even in gambling. He had burned a lot of bridges and at the time his children hardly spoke to him. They both drank and vowed to be faithful. She would drive there with her youngest son and go from hotel to hotel looking for him. But I still win. Her brother-in-law, Sutsakhan Sak, was chief of police and would become, briefly, the countrys president. And she said she knew a lot of people in her parents generation who are lifelong Republicans and thats why they hate the Democratic party. The world moves so quickly now, but I do believe that it is still real and it is still possible. There were some hurt relationships. If you walk into a doughnut shop in California, the chances are it's owned by a Cambodian family. Ted, Christy and their two kids fled to Thailand. "I did not have time to take care of business, so business was going down. "Cambodian people owe them a lot.". The whole community banded together and they all agreed to sell him out of donuts every morning by 9 a.m. But then Ted discovered that the tiny room where he lodged, on the fourth floor of a walk-up apartment block, overlooked Suganthini's villa. It was really wonderful. An owner could keep costs low by employing his family. 60? With the help of his brother-in-law, he was promoted to major and appointed military attache at the countrys embassy in Thailand. In saffron robes and shaved head, the doughnut king spent a month meditating. The Ngoys went to Las Vegas for the first time in 1977. [9], Ngoy is the subject of the 2020 documentary film The Donut King. I called her when I found out and asked if she knew about Ford and Brown. His doughnut fortune was almost gone. He has converted to Christianity, he said, and prays often, asking God for help. Because of the Ngoys, a Cambodian refugees first American job was often in a doughnut shop. He began to disappear off to Las Vegas for days, losing $5,000, $7,000 a game, and neglecting his family and his doughnut empire. Ngoy lived in an attic apartment a few blocks from the Khoeun familys mansion. An immigrant story with a (glazed) twist, The Donut King follows the journey of Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy, who arrived in California in the 1970s and, through a mixture of diligence and. Ngoy forged her signature on checks. Then I went to America, Ngoy said, and created the doughnut world.. DK's Donuts Late at night, Ngoy would put Suganthini on his back and climb down the roof, then down the coconut tree. [3] Ngoy worked at various jobs, including as a travel agent and tour guide, before joining the military in 1970. 50? I'm no good. "And she says, 'Because Cambodian people make them.'". When he completed his three-month training, Winchell's gave him a shop to run on Balboa Pier, a tourist spot on the Newport peninsula not far from Tustin. Theyre savvy, young, hip. (Elina Shatkin/LAist). Over four years nearly two million Cambodians were either executed, or died of starvation, disease and overwork. [5] Having grown up in Los Angeles, she was doubtful when her children's nanny made a reference to "Cambodian" donuts; she thought all donuts were simply "American." [5] Upon looking into the matter, she learned about Ted Ngoy and became fascinated with the topic. [1], That's why I want to tell the world, "Do not gamble." I cry. Her name was Suganthini Khoeun. Eventually Cambodians owned so many doughnut shops in California that they dominated the market, pushing Winchell's into second place. I go to borrow. Ted and Christy are divorced. When he couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. But he was more than well-off; he was respected. Ted Ngoy had served in the Cambodian army as a major fighting communists that were trying to take over that country's government in the 1970s. Ted soon got a job working at Winchell's, which was then the dominant donut chain on the West Coast. He trained them and handed over the keys. They saw Elvis Presley perform, and Ted played a little blackjack. Abcarian: Mask mandates? Aside from what Ted and a lot of the Asians who came aligned themselves with the Republican party. [6] Gu persuaded him to and, ultimately, he regarded his return as a 'healing experience,' and his ex-wife and children have forgiven him. She would forgive him when he promised to stop, and he would -- for a while. Yeah, My Family Doesn't Either, Soup Dumplings, Kimchi Burritos And More Fast, Cheap Eats In Glendale, At Masarap Cafe, West African and Filipino Cuisines Find Their Pairing, Drinking At Disneyland? That's a disaster," he says. Volcanic tiki drinks. The Donut King is a 2020 American documentary film which tells the life story of California donut shop owner Ted Ngoy. Broke, Ted and Christy returned to Cambodia. Alongside doughnuts, they sell imported American goods - everything from Pop-Tarts to Starbucks Frappucinos. He is nicknamed the "Donut King. As many as I could.". in Pasadena, (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment) When you first reached out to Ted, it. Once again Suganthini was the friendly face welcoming customers, and when she became a US citizen she took the name Christy as her own. According to Tao, the servants caught on to Ted's presence after a few days but didn't say anything. Hes really funny. "I had true love for her.". He hired his wife and nephew. Suganthinis parents kept her locked in her room for days. A woman from his church lets him sleep in the screened porch outside her mobile home, which he has fashioned into a makeshift bedroom. "It's a devil, it's a monster. On one of his Las Vegas trips, Ngoy took up gambling. When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy) was born into a poor Cambodian family in 1942. Tell me more about how they connected to the local community.Ted came in the 70s and it was quite homogeneously white in Orange County at the time and a lot of people had never seen an Asian person, much less heard of a place called Cambodia. At the height of his success in the US he had been an ardent Republican, and an enthusiastic fundraiser for the party. All the boys at his school were in love with her, and as a poor half-Chinese boy from a village near the Thai border he had no chance. Suganthini was terrified, but she let the stranger stay. . What was surprising for me was watching Ted, a Republican, pictured with Pete Wilson at one point in the film since Wilson supported laws that hurt immigrants.Its wild. "After cry, go back gambling," he told one interviewer. Im Chinese American. "That's why I want to tell the world, 'Do not gamble.' I told him that he has a story to tell. 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. [5] Having grown up in Los Angeles, she was doubtful when her children's nanny made a reference to "Cambodian" donuts; she thought all donuts were simply "American. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. He had hidden a dagger and he took it out and stabbed himself three times. Within a decade, he had become a multimillionaire with a lakeside mansion . That was super mind blowing for me to hear the political flip-flop and really insightful about another time when politics were more civil and there could be discussion. But it was really the immigrant story. "They forgive me fully. She thought it might have been a tall tale, "But when I was in Cambodia, [Ted] lifted his shirt and I saw the puncture wounds," Gu adds. The Ngoys decided to keep uniformity amongst their shops, naming subsequent acquisitions Christy's. The gambling is sad, the saddest part of my life.". 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. Dear reader, we're asking you to help us keep local news available for all. He co-signed loans for supplies and equipment. Besides, he reasoned, as a politician he would not be able to gamble. Then when dinner is ready, she knocks on the door and I open the door to have dinner.". Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. The past I cannot change, but I learned the heavy way. I wanted to tell this story in a way that was inspirational and optimistic. He helped them apply for permits. When you get to the table, youre so emotional, evil in your body, he said. Don't die. Filmmaker Alice Gu (left) poses with Mayly Tao outside DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. Over the next few years, he went back every month or so, seeing Tom Jones, Diana Ross and Wayne Newton -- and betting ever-larger sums. It really helped put some perspective on the journey to get here from somewhere else and the struggles that people go through when they arrive in a new, strange and foreign land. On the porch of a friends mobile home in Long Beach, the Cambodian doughnut king falls asleep each night shivering. Word spread. They saved money where they could, even washing and reusing coffee stirrers - until they were reprimanded by Winchell's. Ngoy believes he is suffering Gods punishment for having betrayed the blood vow he made as a young man under the moonlight in Phnom Penh. Ngoy tried Gamblers Anonymous. He formed the Free Development Republican Party (ahead of the countrys UN-backed elections), believing that he could show others the path to wealth and hoping that being a politician might stymy his gambling addiction. "[1] In 1977, the Ngoys took a trip to Las Vegas where Ted saw Elvis Presley. Each morning, he walked with the monks, begging for food from peasants, crying as the rocky roads tore at his bare feet. In most of America there's an average of about one doughnut shop for every 30,000 people - in LA, there's one for every 7,000 people. They made a blood pact, promising to be forever faithful. Here's Why It's Especially Dangerous To Hike SoCal Mountains Right Now, How 4 Words Upended A University's Journalism Program, And Stirred A Reckoning Over Race, What A Popular Yoga Teacher's Descent Into Conspiracy Theories Says About The 'Wellness To QAnon Pipeline', Ancient Lung Disease Strikes Countertop Cutters In LA. "Using money to provide for others is a feeling as powerful as any drug," he later wrote. Not many professional gamblers are bipolar women, but Cat Hulbert was one of the best - and she delighted in winning money from men. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy; 1942) is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of doughnut shops in California. "It went like fire on the hill, so fast," says Ted. She later discovered that they were among the first to be executed by the Khmer Rouge. I am the child of immigrants who came and moved here for the American dream. Ngoy was one. Huge numbers of Cambodian refugees were arriving in California. "The note said, 'I appreciate you blowing the flute. 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. None of the people Ngoy helped get started lent him a hand, he said: I trained them. Doughnut shops were easy to run. But within weeks he was back on a plane to Vegas. I could have made a special piece just on the history of donuts. When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, they knew they couldn't go home. The families who followed Ngoys lead learned to run businesses and picked up English. And then I hate the gambling and then I hate that I treat Christy so badly, treat my children so badly, because of the gambling, so I hate myself," he says. Ted remembers hiding from her behind the slot machines. Through doughnuts, many Cambodians stepped out of isolation and into the American mainstream. Soon, Cambodians began copying the Ted Ngoy business model. The Top 5 newsletter catches you up with LAs top 5 stories in just 3 minutes. Once, he was a poor boy who carried away one of Cambodias wealthiest daughters. They were moving their capital and know-how into liquor stores, markets and fast-food restaurants. Her father was a high-ranking government official. His family didn't want to see him, and nobody offered him work, not even baking doughnuts. "When Alice called me, she described something that I have always wanted to tell but never thought that it would get picked up anywhere," Tao says. He wanted to be with her, but he had no one else to manage the shop. By 1987, Ngoy owned 32 Christy's Donuts locations, largely accomplished by living out of a motorhome allowing him and his family to travel up and down the state of California establishing new locations. It's a monster in me.". Devastated that he had broken their pact, she filed for divorce. The first few times he and Christy visited, on early family holidays, everything went well: they watched a magic show, they saw Elvis perform. Oh, and stop for a donut and say "hi.". He took two additional jobs, working almost 24 hours per day. Once, he was a millionaire who met three U.S. presidents. And then we started communicating, bringing back and forth the messages," Ted says. When time goes by it gets into your blood and you just cannot get it out," says Ted. Their youngest son Chris drove them there to pick up the money - but it went horribly wrong. Through the maneuvering of his brother-in-law, chief of police and briefly future president of Cambodia, Sak Sutsakhan, Ngoy was promoted to the rank of major and appointed military attache at Cambodia's embassy in Thailand. At 16, she had no friends, could not talk to boys and was forbidden to leave home alone. After cry, go back gambling." buy a ticket As far as the immigrant experience and my parents what it really did for me is open my eyes and I just cut them some slack about growing up here in conflict with wanting to be an American kid and their Chinese ways of raising me. So I decided to change.". "It was a different take on a refugee story,". They barely talked to him. One night in a pouring rain, Ngoy scaled a coconut tree beside the wall surrounding her home. Whenever Ted won, the family would rejoice with him. And of the 5,000 independent doughnut shops in California today, around 80% are still Cambodian, she says. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. Was there any tension or awkwardness when he visited California again?He came to visit California, I think, with a little bit of trepidation. "If I need the vote, I cannot gamble. [1], When his wife visited California for the birthday of their grandchild in 1999, Ngoy began an affair with a young woman; Christy divorced him soon after and has not since returned to Cambodia. But with great riches come great temptations. She was lucky that Mayly Tao, whose mom, Chuong Lee, owns the shop, answered the phone. Channy also wholesales doughnuts to other minimarts. "Well, it is because I've fallen in love with you," Ted replied. He enjoyed meeting the younger generation of doughnut makers, who are innovating and inventing new flavours. TED NGOY HAD an unrelenting obsession during his 1975 plane ride from Southeast Asia to Southern California. [7][3], Ngoy's fortunes improved dramatically, such that by the mid-1980s Ngoy had amassed millions of dollars through his expanding doughnut shop empire, reported as 50 locations throughout California. Ngoy asked to visit. The next day, he flew back to Los Angeles. 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. Ted Ngoy, his wife and family pick up the story and walk us through their unbelievable experience, flying to a . "But what shall we do in the morning? "[9] In a mixed review, Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail said the film is "well worth watching" while saying there "are holes in this doughnut story. Doughnut revenue put their children through college. I always thought of it as a Plan B to come back and now, it has become the Plan A and more," Tao says. A daughter owns a 1950s-style hamburger restaurant in Orange County. That's because of a refugee who built up an empire, and became known as the Donut King, only to lose it all. About 30 Christys Doughnuts were still in operation, as were hundreds of other Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. She would discover big losses, and they would argue, sending their children running to their rooms. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. He paid for their airfare and, when they arrived, "Uncle Ted" let them stay at his house while he taught them the ropes of the donut business. "[5] Upon looking into the matter, she learned about Ted Ngoy and became fascinated with the topic. When Christy returned to California for the birthday of a grandchild in 1999, Ngoy met a young woman and brought her to live in his house. "But many of them were not related, they just lived in the same village or heard of my name. When there was an overrun of pink doughnut boxes Ted bought them cut-price, and the pink boxes became his trademark. Ngoy doesnt remember how many stores he started or bought -- 40? Ted became their first South East Asian trainee. The two had met as teenage classmates in Phnom Penh. All that money paid for expensive clothes, luxury cars, fancy trips and an opulent home in Mission Viejo. Some of his relationships didnt end well. I said, 'Because it's incredible, for one. 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. [2][3][4], The Donut King was directed by Alice Gu, and is her first feature film. He cut his chest sliding under barbed wire. Former staff writer Vera Castaneda covered arts, entertainment, lifestyle and issues related to Orange County for TimesOC, a community newspaper owned by the Los Angeles Times. [4], Despite the wealth he had amassed and his importance within his community, Ngoy felt dissatisfied, remarking that he had "No political life, no religious life, just work, work. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news. The couple had flash cars, bought a million-dollar mansion with a pool and an elevator, and went on holidays abroad. "Everybody's happy to see me now, because I changed from the bad guy to the good guy.". It was a humbling experience, and the lowest point in his life. Ngoy had become an example to other Cambodian immigrants, who began to follow his business model for their own entrepreneurial endeavors. Ted negotiated well and got a good commission. Ted Ngoy was born in Sisophon, Cambodia. [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. Ngoy would open more shops and lease them to fellow refugees. Theres this portion in the film that goes into Ted and his ex-wife Christys experiences in Orange County during the 70s. Everybody cry," he said. More land deals followed and he has now worked his way back to being a millionaire. We were taxed to the hilt, unemployment was high and he was very reluctant to give refugees a home here when Californians were out of work. Ted, who spoke four languages, was offered a post as liaison officer in Thailand by Suganthini's brother-in-law, Gen Sak Sutsakhan. What new information did you learn in the making of the film?There was a lot that was new to me. Over the years, he led thousands of his countrymen into the business. Ted encouraged others to do the same. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Key grant funding to help O.C. 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. In a year Ted had saved enough to put down a deposit on a second doughnut shop, a "mom-and-pop" shop called Christy's. His mother raised him in a rural village near Cambodias border with Thailand. Still penniless, after nearly four years of exile, Ted flew back to Cambodia. "You can't find any prettier woman besides her.". "Some of them were cousins, uncles, nieces," says Ted. In 1985, he and Suganthini became U.S. citizens. But the situation at home was increasingly dangerous and on his last trip, in April 1975, the capital fell. She divorced him and didnt return to Cambodia. Did working on this film change or contribute to your perspective of the American dream or immigrant stories?It seems like these days the American dream is harder and harder to attain. He said that we didnt have room for these refugees here. He shaved his head and spent three months barefoot in Thailand, coming back emaciated and a changed man - or so he thought. in Tustin sponsored the family, allowing them to live in the church where Ted worked as a janitor. By 2005, after a failed political career in Cambodia, Ngoy was penniless and living on the porch of a fellow Parkcrest Christian Church parishioner's mobile home. Your tax-deductible financial support keeps our stories free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. Cambodia was having its first democratic elections since the war and he wanted to stand for office to help rebuild his country. Is there anything that you left on the cutting room floor that you still think about?There are a lot of things that I still think about on the cutting room floor. This is going to happen.'". This caused tension in the Ngoy household, being the center of many arguments between Ngoy and his wife. Bought his first doughnut shop from a couple who was retiring Tek Ngoy was. Ted bought them cut-price, and ted ngoy second wife would argue, sending their children running their... Kep, on the West Coast joining the military in 1970 was actually the.... 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