"If I need the vote, I cannot gamble. He wanted to buy more, but he was exhausted running the five he owned. From the wall, he leaped onto the roof and crawled through an open window. Mismanagement, Sloppy Hiring Practices, Lack Of Transparency. 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. He began placing bets with Cambodian bookies on football and basketball games. A week later, Suganthini wrote back, and the two began a secret correspondence. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. The families who followed Ngoys lead learned to run businesses and picked up English. [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. Two days after Gu's out-of-the-blue call to DK's Donuts, she was talking to Ngoy in Cambodia. He had gotten his first taste of that passion years earlier. The details that aren't in the movie are even crazier. So I decided to change.". The family also still had the Winchell's so now they had two stores to run. [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. Ted kept a low profile until the LA filmmaker Alice Gu got in touch a couple of years ago. It was here that Ngoy had his first taste of gambling while placing bets at the blackjack tables. 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. How did those scenes end up happening?I asked him to travel to California again. Ngoy would often visit Las Vegas for a period of a week, unbeknownst to his wife. 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. It's something Ted feels a bit bad about. Once back in Orange County, he bet more than ever. Ted liked Cadillacs; Christy preferred Mercedes-Benz convertibles. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Ted soon got a job working at Winchell's, which was then the dominant donut chain on the West Coast. Hes also a sign of Mexicos healthcare crisis, Black residents of Jackson, Miss., blast plans by white-dominated Legislature for more state control, Spain approves menstrual leave, teen abortion and trans laws. But I still win. All three were taken to the police station but they were too scared to mention the cash in the boot. One involves reggae and another focuses on Puerto Rican musicians. 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. He also apologised to many of those he hurt. And she let me in to take a shower. More and more relatives came forward for sponsorship. They pricked their fingers and squeezed drops of blood into a cup of water. Chet and Savy, Ted Ngoys oldest children, sit down for an interview in The Donut King.. 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. "[1], Ted Ngoy was born in the Cambodian village of Sisophon near the country's border with Thailand. But one night, he had an idea. Ted's story is told in a new documentary. For a year and a half, I struggled with how I was going to get access to that Mission Viejo mansion. Director Alice Gu makes her film debut with The Donut King, following the life of Ted Ngoy. He was a fraud, he said. "Well, it is because I've fallen in love with you," Ted replied. [1], That's why I want to tell the world, "Do not gamble." Night after night, he watched customers come and go. Once, he enjoyed the warmth of family and the respect of his community. That is a lie, he cried, and plunged the blade into his belly. She said he would be throwing his money away. They were moving their capital and know-how into liquor stores, markets and fast-food restaurants. In 1975, Ngoy fled the Khmer Rouge with his wife and three children to Camp Pendleton. Your Guide To Everything Boozy You Can Order, A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth. "[1] He says his Christian faith ultimately helped him abandon the habit. Suganthini replied, "Well be careful, if you don't jump into my room, you'll jump into my mum's room.". While he was recovering in hospital, Suganthini also made an attempt on her life. "[1] In 1977, the Ngoys took a trip to Las Vegas where Ted saw Elvis Presley. He borrowed money from relatives who had leased his doughnut shops. I never loved you.' Channy also wholesales doughnuts to other minimarts. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted, because of the many Cambodian immigrants he'd sponsored. It also reminds us that several U.S. presidents welcomed a flood of refugees with open arms. Theres also the moment where Ted revisits his former home in Mission Viejo. He has found his way to be wealthy again. in Santa Monica. 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. According to Tao, the servants caught on to Ted's presence after a few days but didn't say anything. You see some of these families and their stores in The Donut King The film follows an immigrant tale of the American dream through Bun Tek Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee whose charmed life is full of war, romance, entrepreneurship, racism and a caution about greed. After a year of running two shops they had saved $40,000 and Ted decided to expand. He lost all the doughnuts, said James Dok, director of the United Cambodian Community, a social service agency in Long Beach. "This friendly voice picks up the phone, a young voice in that perfectly American accented English. "I did not have time to take care of business, so business was going down. When the couple recovered, her parents finally allowed them to marry. Ngoy told Suganthini that he didnt love her. in San Clemente and, of course, DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. At the peak of his success, Ted owned something like 65 donut stores many of them named Christy's and was bringing in about $100,000 per month. It was hurtful. He had sold what few shops remained. Instead, she told him about a training programme run by the doughnut chain, Winchell's. Ngoy asked to visit. until 2014 The family were among the many tens of thousands of . 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. On Sundays he would go to the church where her son was the pastor and join in Bible studies. Her name was Suganthini Khoeun. One of their sons is a financial consultant; another is a computer-networking technician. In return, he played their tables and lost thousands of dollars. Perpetually in need of cash, he'd ask the people running his donut shops for loans. The ubiquity and low overhead of these Cambodian mom-and-pop donut shops helped drive Dunkin' Donuts out of California in the late '90s. (Elina Shatkin/LAist). I am the flute player, he said in a note passed through the familys maid. I dont know who I am right now, he said. Driving back with $85,000 cash in the boot of the car, they were stopped by the police; they had fallen behind with payments, so the car showed up as stolen. He left behind his new wife and their two children, and what he had seen as his last chance at redemption. Ted negotiated well and got a good commission. Now, he is in real estate development," Gu says. Ngoy joined the army. 2023 Southern California Public Radio - All Rights Reserved, Rising Egg Prices Are For The Birds. We had an instant connection and it felt like we were meant to be doing this story together. Every time I met them I said, 'Sorry son, sorry my daughter, sorry Christy. Ted and a lot of the Asians who came aligned themselves with the Republican party. , to name a few outlets), but Alice Gu is the first to put it on film. goes to your local theater. "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. This is going to happen.'". His sponsor told him people will have their prejudices but they mean well. He took a chance and opened a bedroom door - and there was Suganthini, fast asleep. That's because of a refugee who built up an empire, and became known as the Donut King, only to lose it all. 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. He has converted to Christianity, he said, and prays often, asking God for help. Hes friends with Dana Rohrabacher. A bank had foreclosed on his mansion on Lake Mission Viejo. That same year, President Gerald Ford signed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, allowing 130,000 people from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to come to the U.S. California's Governor at the time, Jerry Brown, opposed the move, saying, in a clip that's featured in The Donut King, "When we have a million people out of work, when we have our own people taxed to the hilt, I'm just very slow to just open the floodgates and say come on in unless we provide a way to put Americans to work.". In The Donut King, we learn that a teenage Ted won over his wife, Christy (ne Suganthini), by spending 45 straight days laying under her bed. 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. This is an incredible story of how he helped people. Ngoy would open more shops and lease them to fellow refugees. Soon, Cambodians began copying the Ted Ngoy business model. They cried and prayed for the family they had left behind. He is wealthy again. 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. His doughnut fortune was almost gone. Abcarian: Mask mandates? "They forgive me fully. Ted joined the Republican Party, held fundraisers for George H.W. Her daughter, Mayly Tao, has taken over the reigns of DK's. "I just wanted to raise pigs and chickens and have enough meat and eggs to take to . 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. Eager to learn the business, Ngoy approached the shop owners. Never surrender. Over the years, he led thousands of his countrymen into the business. The next day, he flew back to Los Angeles leaving behind his new wife and their two children. He would forge her signature on checks and even borrow money from relatives who leased stores from him. The doughnut king landed at LAX with $50 in his pocket. Upon his return to Orange County, Ngoy began gambling harder than ever stating "Monks cannot help me, Buddha cannot help me. I say, Ted I dont think its that easy at all. And hell respond, Ive been rich three times. She was hooked. By 2002 Ted was broke. In less than two years, while working on other jobs and projects, Gu directed and shot the 94-minute documentary. Then Ngoy would fly to Las Vegas without telling her, sometimes staying as long as a week. She would drive there with her youngest son and go from hotel to hotel looking for him. It was on the market. It was a strategy that ended up working for them. 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. With Chuong Pek Lee, Susan Lim, Ted Ngoy, Daewon Song. Why would anybody be interested in my story?' 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. 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. and Maybe Its Time To Raise Backyard Chickens, Catch A Wave In The Booming South Bay Food Scene: Here Are 11 New Restaurants To Try, Don't Celebrate Thanksgiving? Doughnut shops were easy to run. The Donut King: Directed by Alice Gu. You cannot resist against it.. But he was more than well-off; he was respected. His party did poorly in the 1993 and 1998 parliamentary elections, but Prime Minister Hun Sen made him an advisor on commerce and agriculture. It's so amazing, so touching.' Distraught, she took an overdose of sleeping pills and fell into a coma. He lobbied his contacts in the Republican inner circle, including Senator John McCain, and MFN status was granted permanently in 1996. That phrase Donut King is already so eye-catching right off the bat. In The Donut King, we learn that a teenage Ted won over his wife, Christy (ne Suganthini), by spending 45 straight days laying under her bed. Ted had met Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., [Richard] Nixon. Interestingly, largely because of Democratic policy we got a grant for our camera and it came from this girl, who was the daughter of Vietnamese refugees who landed in Arkansas. He took a real estate class but said he couldnt retain the details. He was raised by his mother, who was from Shantou, Guangdong, and who only spoke Chinese. Drenched and bleeding, he tiptoed into a hallway. in Tustin sponsored the family, allowing them to live in the church where Ted worked as a janitor. And it was actually a donut that I refused at first from Mayly Tao, the Donut Princess. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Key grant funding to help O.C. Ted managed to escape on the last flight out of Phnom Penh but Suganthini's parents were left behind. 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. 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. Ngoy also involved himself in American politics, joining the Republican Party and hosting fundraisers for George H. W. Bush and encouraged fellow Cambodian immigrants to support the GOP. Sent to the city to study, Ngoy met the beautiful Suganthini Khoeun who was the daughter of a government. When time goes by it gets into your blood and you just cannot get it out," says Ted. Also Jerry Brown, who weve seen in California as our beacon of hope and morality, in 1975 was actually the opposite. Long hours. Beautiful views aren't the only thing drawing Angelenos to the region. 50? It was really wonderful. "[5] Upon looking into the matter, she learned about Ted Ngoy and became fascinated with the topic. [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. He turned down a job as a security guard because it required standing for eight hours. 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. At 35, Ngoy had already climbed out of poverty and into privilege once. Every evening, he sat by his open window and played the flute. [5], The film received 69/100 on Metacritic, receiving "generally favorable reviews. None of the people Ngoy helped get started lent him a hand, he said: I trained them. Gab Chabrn reflects on growing up in L.A. in a Latino home that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving and the traditions they formed instead. Ngoy ended his political career abruptly in 2002, breaking with two powerful allies, the commerce minister and the head of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce. Everybody cry," he said. At school, Ngoy fell in love from afar with a beautiful girl. His story has been told through different angles in a couple of articles. [8], After a particularly devastating gambling loss in 1990, Ngoy flew to Washington, D.C. and joined a Buddhist monastery where he spent a month meditating. Under the Khmer Rouge leadership of Pol Pot people were forced to work on communal farms, and those with money or education were tortured and killed. 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. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy) was born into a poor Cambodian family in 1942. Something else about Orange County that I found so beautiful and touching while we were making this film, there was a man who owned a donut shop in Seal Beach and his wife was stricken with cancer. Where are they now?. Volcanic tiki drinks. "Don't worry, I will hide under your bed," said Ted. Her parents and cousins hid behind curtains so they could hear him break off the relationship. When he couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. He found a second job at a gas station. I instantly found the Realtor, the listing agent and arranged to go and have Ted walk through his old house. He says he hid in her room for 45 days until he was discovered. Peace Lutheran Church in Tustin hired Ngoy as a janitor. . He also figured that as a prominent politician, he would be forced to control his gambling habit. [6][3], Ngoy bought additional doughnut shops in Orange County. People made fun of his accent. I have to go to school.". I said, 'Because it's incredible, for one. He was, however, invited to become a government adviser on commerce and agriculture. In 1975, Ngoy fled the Khmer Rouge with his wife and three . . Then he flew to a monastery in the Thai countryside. He bought a bigger doughnut shop, and offered to lease the original Christy's to a family of Cambodian refugees, who had been working in fast food outlets on low wages. And a new figure emerged on the California business landscape: the Cambodian doughnut-shop owner. The world moves so quickly now, but I do believe that it is still real and it is still possible. Ngoy tried Gamblers Anonymous. California Sunday Ted became deeply religious. 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.