A day before he left, his eldest son said if you have $3.2 million you can buy it. When he was working in the donut shop, he went to his sponsor and said he was having a hard time. Theres also the moment where Ted revisits his former home in Mission Viejo. On Sundays, he attends Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach. The second time Ted came back to California, Chet took all this time off of work, took him to his timeshare in Oceanside and drove his dad around all over Southern California. At each stop, they set up the business and trained the families who leased it. He helped them apply for permits. Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. , the Read about our approach to external linking. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, and the Cambodian genocide began. "Don't worry, I will hide under your bed," said Ted. Gu's documentary, Then he flew to a monastery in the Thai countryside. Some of his relationships didnt end well. Filmmaker Alice Gu (left) poses with Mayly Tao outside DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit "Some of them were cousins, uncles, nieces," says Ted. Christy always forgave him, but word got around that Ted could no longer be trusted. He saw an opportunity to expand his business and help the large number of poor, unassimilated Cambodians who had fled the Khmer Rouge to the United States. Gu says Christy's family then threatened to kill Ted but his mother made a deal with them. One day in 2018, she cold-called I thought it was so profound that this was the very same community that just a couple of decades earlier were making fun of somebody who worked at the counter and had an accent. 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. I just want to create as many as I can, he said. "I became a very, very bad man and borrowed money here and there," he says. Ted soon got a job working at Winchell's, which was then the dominant donut chain on the West Coast. [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. One by one, Ted lost all of his donut shops. The couple and their three toddlers arrived penniless at Camp Pendleton, part of the first wave of Cambodian refugees. Over four years nearly two million Cambodians were either executed, or died of starvation, disease and overwork. Still penniless, after nearly four years of exile, Ted flew back to Cambodia. in San Clemente and, of course, DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. He moved from church to church, until an elderly Cambodian woman allowed him to live on the covered porch of her mobile home. 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. Bush, met former Presidents Reagan and Nixon, and urged other Asian immigrants to support the GOP. Twice he joined a Buddhist monastery. He says his gambling is under control -- though he has no money with which to test this will power. Her father was a high-ranking government official. "I achieved my American dream," Ted says. Gu didn't know about any of that before she started developing this project. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted,. But I still win. Your Guide To Everything Boozy You Can Order, A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth. The Ngoys went to Las Vegas for the first time in 1977. and California landscape with a familiar coat yellow strip mall signs with red lettering reading Christys Donuts. This is my own speculation, but it seemed like he had come to some peace with his dad and childhood. Long-lost ship found at the bottom of Lake Huron, confirming story of tragic collision, TikTok to set default daily time limit of up to 60 minutes for minors, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, TikTok faces bans in a number of countries over security fears. In return, he played their tables and lost thousands of dollars. After completing the company's training program, they gave him the keys to a store in Newport Beach. One of their sons is a financial consultant; another is a computer-networking technician. Within a decade, he had become a multimillionaire with a lakeside mansion . 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"And she says, 'Because Cambodian people make them.'". And he has a new goal. NICK STREET Channy is a stocky man in his mid-forties, and he runs USA Donut in Boeung Keng Kang with his wife. They both drank and vowed to be faithful. A 2005 profile in the Los Angeles Times described him as "broke, homeless, and dependent on the goodwill of his few remaining friends." Today, he makes a living selling real estate in Cambodia. He had $50,000 riding on many Sundays. The families who followed Ngoys lead learned to run businesses and picked up English. He was Chinese Cambodian, part of a despised underclass. People love her and shes beautiful. He took two additional jobs, working almost 24 hours per day. [11], Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 19:19, "Rise and fall of Cambodian refugee 'Donut King' charted in award-winning film", "A TASTE OF CAMBODIA: A Real Horatio Alger Story: Refugee Built Empire on Doughnuts", "VOICES FROM THE FIRST GENERATION: The Ngoy Family", "Asians Looking to Broaden Horizons: Immigrants Prosper but Hope to Venture Outside the 'Business Ghetto', "The Donut King who went full circle - from rags to riches, twice", "The story of the man they called the doughnut king", "Review: A Shakespearean SoCal tragedy, 'The Donut King' charts the rise and fall of Ted Ngoy", "Lessons from the Donut King & Science Fiction's Golden Age", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ted_Ngoy&oldid=1140980965, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 19:19. Ngoy bought his first doughnut. Ted remembers hiding from her behind the slot machines. Ngoy and his family enjoyed the fruits of their labor and at one point moved into a 7,000-square-foot mansion in Mission Viejo. But then one of Suganthini's servants appeared at his door with a reply. But he was more than well-off; he was respected. [1], In 2013, he was living in Phnom Penh working in real estate. 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. Suganthinis parents kept her locked in her room for days. In 1985, Ngoy and his wife became American citizens assuming the American names of Ted and Christy, respectively, and were enjoying a lavish lifestyle including a million dollar home at Lake Mission Viejo, a vacation home in Big Bear, expensive cars, and vacations to Europe. In our very first phone call, he asked if I was American and I told him that I was Chinese American. She would discover big losses, and they would argue, sending their children running to their rooms. [10] Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. and "It was a different take on a refugee story,". That's a disaster," he says. He ran to the shop across the street where he bought a donut. Late at night, Ngoy would put Suganthini on his back and climb down the roof, then down the coconut tree. They would speed through Phnom Penh on his motorcycle, the couple recalled. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). This caused tension in the Ngoy household, being the center of many arguments between Ngoy and his wife. He says he hid in her room for 45 days until he was discovered. (Elina Shatkin/LAist). If you walk into a doughnut shop in California, the chances are it's owned by a Cambodian family. He trained them and handed over the keys. He went on to marry Suganthini Khoeun, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. He wanted to buy more, but he was exhausted running the five he owned. Ted began to look for more doughnut shops to buy and lease to fellow refugees. Interviews can sometimes feel like a therapy session. At the weekend the oldest children, Chet and Savy, then nine and eight, helped out by pouring coffee, packing doughnuts and folding boxes. In the early 1970s, Cambodia was in the midst of a brutal civil war that displaced two million people, more than a quarter of the country's population. "Ted, again, is Mr. Nine Lives. 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 says. He credits his Christian faith with finally curing his gambling addiction, although he confesses he liked to bet on football games until last year. "I never back down. Cambodia was poor and under-developed after years of war. One of them being my interview with Michael Krondl, the food historian. Alice found it hard to persuade Ted to return to California for filming. But it was really the immigrant story. Ngoy is Cambodian and he was in Phnom Penh when it fell. ", "I was like, 'What on earth makes this Cambodian? 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.". And he saw an opportunity. I'm not famous. Ngoy lived in an attic apartment a few blocks from the Khoeun familys mansion. Beautiful views aren't the only thing drawing Angelenos to the region. Using his Republican Party connections, Ngoy successfully lobbied the U.S. for most-favored-nation trade status for Cambodia in 1995, helping create a modern garment industry and thousands of jobs. "I'd want [people] to know about not only the journey of the donut itself but the story of the people behind it, the people making the donuts," Tao says. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. [5], Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. But on a later trip Ted had a go on the blackjack tables, and soon he was hooked on the glamour and the adrenaline. Over the years, he says he sponsored more than 100 Cambodian families that wanted to come to the U.S. Their youngest son Chris drove them there to pick up the money - but it went horribly wrong. "[1], Ted Ngoy was born in the Cambodian village of Sisophon near the country's border with Thailand. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. 50? Tao did everything in her power to help Gu. "If I need to shower, I knock on the door, 'Lady can I take a shower?' The other discovery for me was what I called Donut Generation 2.0, the kids who go to take over the parents mom and pop shops. He has found his way to be wealthy again. "[10], Whittaker said that "as Asian Americans face increasing racism, its closing message about how immigrant communitiesdefine America has only become more timely."[8]. Ted wrote one day. They arranged a meeting for the couple at a relatives house, where Ngoy was expected to formally end their romance. The Donut King is told through archival footage, animation, and interviews with family members alongside Ted Ngoy, who has tried to make peace with those who he's hurt including Mel Allison, a 91-year-old baker still at it at Winchell's. You cannot resist against it.. Soldiers and dogs guarded the mansion. Theres a hustle to it, and director Alice Gu captures it in her debut documentary The Donut King.. Ted, who spoke four languages, was offered a post as liaison officer in Thailand by Suganthini's brother-in-law, Gen Sak Sutsakhan. Most importantly, the trip allowed him to mend relations with Christy, who has now remarried, and with their grown-up children. Perpetually in need of cash, he'd ask the people running his donut shops for loans. called Ted was dismayed. They barely talked to him. These are kids who are American educated. Ngoy bought stores in Fullerton, Anaheim, Anaheim Hills and Buena Park over the next year. 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. He hired his wife and nephew. Then he would return to Vegas in an attempt to win back what he had lost. It also reminds us that several U.S. presidents welcomed a flood of refugees with open arms. They took American names. He has to start a new life.. They had a vacation home in Big Bear and a time share in Acapulco. 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. Her brother-in-law, Sutsakhan Sak, was chief of police and would become, briefly, the countrys president. You just have to see the opportunity and go for it. Those are the wise words of Ted Ngoy. [8] However, the film's directorAlice Gupersuaded him to and, ultimately, he regarded his return as a 'healing experience,' and his ex-wife and children have forgiven him. Instantly acquiring the rank of Major, Ted and his young family moved to Bangkok, and every month he travelled back to Cambodia to collect the wages for his soldiers. For the next 45 days, he lived in her room. I thought I would just get an exterior scene for context. Next to the petrol station there was a doughnut shop called DK Donuts. He sat on the roof of his apartment and played his flute, the music sweeping over the neighborhood. During the week they went to school, where sometimes they were so hungry they stole snacks from other kids' lunchboxes. She became Christy. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Key grant funding to help O.C. They saw Elvis Presley perform, and Ted played a little blackjack. They made a blood pact, promising to be forever faithful. It was hurtful. Which donut shop do you find yourself going back to for the sake of eating a donut?I had my out of body experience at DKs Donuts and Bakery in Santa Monica. "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. A map of Christys Donuts, Winchells and Dunkin Donuts across California during the height of Ted Ngoys entrepreneurship in the 1970s through the 1990s. He had burned a lot of bridges and at the time his children hardly spoke to him. Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. Theres this portion in the film that goes into Ted and his ex-wife Christys experiences in Orange County during the 70s. in Santa Monica. Also Jerry Brown, who weve seen in California as our beacon of hope and morality, in 1975 was actually the opposite. He subsequently received training through an affirmative action program to increase minority hiring within the Winchell's chain of doughnut shops, and managed a store in Newport Beach where he employed his wife and nephew. "If I need the vote, I cannot gamble. buy a ticket 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. By the mid-1980s, he was a millionaire. We had an instant connection and it felt like we were meant to be doing this story together. I gave her my spiel, and she said, 'Well, you've called the right person. 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. He also figured that as a prominent politician, he would be forced to control his gambling habit. 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. About 30 Christys Doughnuts were still in operation, as were hundreds of other Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. After a civil war broke out and Phnom Penh fell to the communist Khmer. I never will be able to pay back. Peace Lutheran Church He was bleeding out and her parents were like, 'Oh, God. How did those scenes end up happening?I asked him to travel to California again. According to Gu, Christy's family brought her into the room and Ted started reciting his speech. Don't die. Every time I met them I said, 'Sorry son, sorry my daughter, sorry Christy. If you can dream it, they're probably mixing it somewhere on property. Why are we still having these debates? The Donut King diretcor Alice Gu talks about what led her to make a film about Ted Ngoy, her first intro to the phenomenon of Cambodian donut shops and how she got a Wu-Tang song in the score. Christy's parents said they would let Ted live if he told Christy that he was a dog who had romanced other girls and had never loved her. When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. While Ted was immersed in Cambodian politics, Christy flew to the US for the birth of a grandchild. [6][3], Ngoy bought additional doughnut shops in Orange County. Some of the interviews in the film seemed that way.It was actually really wonderful to speak with particularly his older kids Chet and Savy, who until that interview, they didnt have much to do with him. TED NGOY HAD an unrelenting obsession during his 1975 plane ride from Southeast Asia to Southern California. To Christy, this was the final betrayal. in Irvine, Ngoy joined the army. She said he would be throwing his money away. She divorced him and didnt return to Cambodia. He was born Bun Tek Ngoy. Once, I said I would die if something happened to him, Christy said of her ex-husband. Ted is my great uncle,'" Gu says. "But what shall we do in the morning? I say, Ted I dont think its that easy at all. And hell respond, Ive been rich three times. These are all people who present day you dont associate with welcoming refugees with open arms. Abcarian: Mask mandates? 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. A child of immigrants herself, she had become curious why Californian doughnut shops were so often run by Cambodians, and why there were so many of them. He co-signed loans for supplies and equipment. He tasted his first donut at a Tustin gas station, trained as a baker in a La Mirada Winchells and ran his own Winchells store in the Balboa Peninsula. Christy and Ted bought a $1-million, three-story, 7,000-square-foot house with palm trees and a three-car garage on Lake Mission Viejo in Orange County. He had spent all his money on electioneering and on a failed attempt to introduce a new type of hybridised rice, which he believed would improve yields. He was a fraud, he said. "We were happy - until the gambling came to wreck my life. As word of Ted's success spread, Cambodian immigrants started seeking him out when they arrived in Southern California. Suganthini and her mother heard the music. In 1990, after disappearing for another disastrous trip to Las Vegas, he flew to Washington, D.C., and joined a Buddhist monastery. All night long Ted would watch people buying coffee and doughnuts, and he realised it was a good business. in Tustin sponsored the family, allowing them to live in the church where Ted worked as a janitor. goes to your local theater. 'How I got rich beating men at their own game'. When you get to the table, youre so emotional, evil in your body, he said. Once back in Orange County, he bet more than ever. [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. Working all hours, Ted and Christy knew very little about what was happening back home in Cambodia, but what they heard was bad. [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. Pit bosses, floor men and dealers at Caesars Palace, the MGM Grand and the Mirage got to know the Cambodian doughnut king. He had no home and no money, and his country had been overrun by a gang of pitiless thugs. Yes, you read that right. He was very surprised that anybody would find him and want to tell his stories. 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. Chuong Lee Tao passed down DKs Donuts in Santa Monica to her daughter Mayly Tao, who updated the shop with a vast menu and a worldwide social media following. Each morning, he walked with the monks, begging for food from peasants, crying as the rocky roads tore at his bare feet. On hearing the music float across the quiet city, Suganthini's mother remarked that whoever was playing must be in love. An owner could keep costs low by employing his family. [5], The film received 69/100 on Metacritic, receiving "generally favorable reviews. The first few times he and Christy visited, on early family holidays, everything went well: they watched a magic show, they saw Elvis perform. Drenched and bleeding, he tiptoed into a hallway. Was there any tension or awkwardness when he visited California again?He came to visit California, I think, with a little bit of trepidation. Now, he is in real estate development," Gu says. He had no way of making a living until a Chinese contact from better days asked him to help out with a real estate deal. , some of the dough (see what we did there?) Bun Tek Ngoy touched down at Camp Pendleton on a military plane in May of 1975 with his wife and three young children. That's because of a refugee who built up an empire, and became known as the Donut King, only to lose it all. After setting up a sweet shop of his own, he helped fellow . And I feel so much hurt. The couple had flash cars, bought a million-dollar mansion with a pool and an elevator, and went on holidays abroad. At 35, Ngoy had already climbed out of poverty and into privilege once. Ngoy wrote to her. 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. All that money paid for expensive clothes, luxury cars, fancy trips and an opulent home in Mission Viejo. "It's a devil, it's a monster. youths avoid juvenile hall comes to an end, As it approaches its first decade, the Frida Cinema abides, Shake Shack gets ready to shake things up in Orange County, Santa Anas Electric City Butcher moves online, Brews&Bites beachside beer festival comes to the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, 13 couples say I do on Valentines Day weekend at the Anaheim Marketplace, Broadway Divas serve off-Broadway realness at Segerstrom, Dine your heart out this Valentines Day with special menus throughout Orange County, 43rd annual Orange County Black History Parade & Unity Fair a source of pride in Anaheim. 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