He enjoyed meeting the younger generation of doughnut makers, who are innovating and inventing new flavours. What is Ted up to in Cambodia nowadays?Ted is doing well. 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. I dont know who I am right now, he said. "Don't worry, I will hide under your bed," said Ted. 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. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy) was born into a poor Cambodian family in 1942. He was born Bun Tek Ngoy. At a news conference, he dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. On hearing the music float across the quiet city, Suganthini's mother remarked that whoever was playing must be in love. And then we opened second store in Fullerton, and when they opened, I also train people and my wage, Christi, also . Cambodia was planning its first elections in 1993, and well-to-do emigres from California were returning to run for office. He joined Gamblers Anonymous but was back at the tables in no time. But within weeks he was back on a plane to Vegas. Christy always forgave him, but word got around that Ted could no longer be trusted. Ted negotiated well and got a good commission. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news. Hes really funny. Some of his relationships didnt end well. [5] She reached out to Ngoy and other Cambodian families who ran donut shops, and within six weeks began principal photography. Suganthinis parents kept her locked in her room for days. in Tustin sponsored the family, allowing them to live in the church where Ted worked as a janitor. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. A daughter owns a 1950s-style hamburger restaurant in Orange County. 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." . Why would anybody be interested in my story?' 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. 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? Night after night, he watched customers come and go. 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. Abcarian: Mask mandates? Suganthini replied, "Well be careful, if you don't jump into my room, you'll jump into my mum's room.". Ted joined the Republican Party, held fundraisers for George H.W. 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. "Growing up, when you look on the screen, there's not a lot of Asian representation. ", He communicates with them almost every day. A week later, Suganthini wrote back, and the two began a secret correspondence. And I feel so much hurt. In our very first phone call, he asked if I was American and I told him that I was Chinese American. Christy was in the front and made a lot of inroads with the community and built a lot of bridges. [10] Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. Ted Ngoy was reaping rewards of that success. For the next 45 days, he lived in her room. To think about what Ted did years ago letting bygones be bygones. Just knowing that my great uncle Ted and the story of my parents and hearing Alice say, 'I want to really dig deep on a Cambodian donut shop,' I was like, 'Wow, this is real. On Sundays, he attends Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach. Ngoy wrote to her. He took a chance and opened a bedroom door - and there was Suganthini, fast asleep. Ted liked Cadillacs; Christy preferred Mercedes-Benz convertibles. I'm no good. One of them being my interview with Michael Krondl, the food historian. [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 said hes Chinese Cambodian and we spoke Mandarin for a couple of minutes. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. He also figured that as a prominent politician, he would be forced to control his gambling habit. Then, after falling out with a powerful political rival he feared for his life and fled to the US. While he was recovering in hospital, Suganthini also made an attempt on her life. Over the years, he says he sponsored more than 100 Cambodian families that wanted to come to the U.S. "It's a devil, it's a monster. "Cambodian people owe them a lot.". He hired his wife and nephew. I say, Ted, who are you? I really dont know.. He became tired running doughnut shops on his own and decided to train and lease shops to his relatives and employ Cambodian refugees. 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. Over the years, he led thousands of his countrymen into the business. The Donut King is a 2020 American documentary film which tells the life story of California donut shop owner Ted Ngoy. "[7] In a positive review, Richard Whittaker with The Austin Chronicle said that "Gu does stellar work compiling and constructing Ngoys life story through interviews and archive and contemporary footage," and added "the animation sequences by Chapeau Studios and 1881 Animation that make the perfect drizzle of icing. 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. It was love at first bite. Within a decade, he had become a multimillionaire with a lakeside mansion . It's so amazing, so touching.' "He was afraid of being shunned and feeling lonely - but I forced him!" One night in a pouring rain, Ngoy scaled a coconut tree beside the wall surrounding her home. At 35, Ngoy had already climbed out of poverty and into privilege once. "Some of them were cousins, uncles, nieces," says Ted. "I just wanted to raise pigs and chickens and have enough meat and eggs to take to . When you first reached out to Ted, it was a cold call. While Ted was immersed in Cambodian politics, Christy flew to the US for the birth of a grandchild. Doing this film was really an exploration for me of understanding where you come from. "It's impossible to explain that money had nothing to do with it. Then when dinner is ready, she knocks on the door and I open the door to have dinner.". 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. 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. Chet and Savy, Ted Ngoys oldest children, sit down for an interview in The Donut King.. When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. At the weekend the oldest children, Chet and Savy, then nine and eight, helped out by pouring coffee, packing doughnuts and folding boxes. His family didn't want to see him, and nobody offered him work, not even baking doughnuts. Ted Ngoy, who was known as the doughnut king, lives in Phnom Penh. Working all hours, Ted and Christy knew very little about what was happening back home in Cambodia, but what they heard was bad. the He had met Richard Nixon, the former president, and Presidents Reagan and George HW Bush. Gu says Christy's family then threatened to kill Ted but his mother made a deal with them. 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. [6][3], Ngoy bought additional doughnut shops in Orange County. By the mid-1980s, he was a millionaire. People made fun of his accent. Once, he enjoyed the warmth of family and the respect of his community. The Donut King is a documentary directed by Alice Gu that covers the life of Ted Ngoy, one of the primary reasons behind the Cambodian American donut shop boom. He wanted to be with her, but he had no one else to manage the shop. "He was a little uneasy," Gu says. Baby Yoda cocktails. So I decided to change.". To Christy, this was the final betrayal. "I cry. He moved from church to church, until an elderly Cambodian woman allowed him to live on the covered porch of her mobile home. "I became a very, very bad man and borrowed money here and there," he says. Still penniless, after nearly four years of exile, Ted flew back to Cambodia. Ted had met Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., [Richard] Nixon. Her daughter, Mayly Tao, has taken over the reigns of DK's. After completing the company's training program, they gave him the keys to a store in Newport Beach. [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. "I never back down. [1], That's why I want to tell the world, "Do not gamble." in Santa Monica. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Peace Lutheran Church in Tustin hired Ngoy as a janitor. He spends his evenings alone, reading the Bible. Eventually, her parents discovered Ngoy and threw him out. 60? 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. People love her and shes beautiful. He is wealthy again. And of the 5,000 independent doughnut shops in California today, around 80% are still Cambodian, she says. Tell us about your wife. Once, I said I would die if something happened to him, Christy said of her ex-husband. 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. Pit bosses, floor men and dealers at Caesars Palace, the MGM Grand and the Mirage got to know the Cambodian doughnut king. Ngoy bought his first doughnut shop from a couple who was retiring. Your tax-deductible financial support keeps our stories free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. 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. The past I cannot change, but I learned the heavy way. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. 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 he couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. Where Im going, I dont know. He dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. That phrase Donut King is already so eye-catching right off the bat. "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. He was bleeding out and her parents were like, 'Oh, God. With Chuong Pek Lee, Susan Lim, Ted Ngoy, Daewon Song. Along with thousands of other Cambodian refugees, the Ngoys ended up at Camp Pendleton. It actually made national, if not international, news about the kindness of these people in Orange County. Some of those he borrowed from were the people he had leased doughnut shops to. Faced with such determination, her family allowed the young lovers to be together. He had no home and no money, and his country had been overrun by a gang of pitiless thugs. The family also still had the Winchell's so now they had two stores to run. He had gotten his first taste of that passion years earlier. He sat on the roof of his apartment and played his flute, the music sweeping over the neighborhood. I did not have time to expand. Ngoy bought stores in Fullerton, Anaheim, Anaheim Hills and Buena Park over the next year. He had to guess which room was hers. "Ultimately, this is a story of a guy who came to the country with nothing, and with some hustle, and dreams, and a little luck, really made quite a charmed life for himself.". Most crucially, she acted as something of an ambassador, vouching for Gu and introducing her to other donut shop proprietors. She thought Ted was joking, but he was serious. He became Ted. [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. She said he would be throwing his money away. Ted Ngoy was born in Sisophon, Cambodia. Her father was a high-ranking government official. But he was more than well-off; he was respected. The stranger who crept into her room more than 35 years ago is a stranger again. If there's anything she wants people who watch The Donut King to know, it's that this seemingly simple treat has a deeper cultural resonance. He was raised by his mother, who was from Shantou, Guangdong, and who only spoke Chinese. In the early 1990s, it was reported that California had 2,400 Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. Soldiers and dogs guarded the mansion. After a little research, Gu discovered that a huge number of California's independent donut shops, maybe 80-90%, are owned by Cambodian Americans, mostly thanks to Ngoy. After a civil war broke out and Phnom Penh fell to the communist Khmer. She later discovered that they were among the first to be executed by the Khmer Rouge. That is because I had a buttermilk bar about 30 seconds out of the fryer with fresh glaze on it. Upon deeper glance, it was so personal for me. "We were happy - until the gambling came to wreck my life. Ngoy asked to visit. Then he opened his first independent shop in La Habra, eventually covering the rest of O.C. 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. The family members worked 17 hours a day and saved for a year. Because of the Ngoys, a Cambodian refugees first American job was often in a doughnut shop. "[5] Upon looking into the matter, she learned about Ted Ngoy and became fascinated with the topic. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Key grant funding to help O.C. What was it like?I spoke with him and he was in Cambodia. The donut business isnt easy. He taught them the names of the doughnuts: old fashioned, jelly-filled, glazed. No political life, no religious life, just work, work, he said. I cry. At the height of his success in the US he had been an ardent Republican, and an enthusiastic fundraiser for the party. Ngoy built a vast donut shop empire across California and it started in 1970s Orange County. These are kids who are American educated. Cambodia was poor and under-developed after years of war. They had a vacation home in Big Bear and a time share in Acapulco. Six weeks later, Gu and her producer, Jos Nuez, were on a plane to Cambodia where they spent three days interviewing Ngoy and shooting B-roll. 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. [5] Long hours. Tao did everything in her power to help Gu. At 16, she had no friends, could not talk to boys and was forbidden to leave home alone. The Donut King comes out Friday, Oct. 30, online, and when you "I came back to L.A. and I didn't know that I was going to create this crazy explosion in the business. The ubiquity and low overhead of these Cambodian mom-and-pop donut shops helped drive Dunkin' Donuts out of California in the late '90s. In return, he played their tables and lost thousands of dollars. He has to start a new life.. And he said he saw her heart break before his very eyes. Huge numbers of Cambodian refugees were arriving in California. Since many of them had gotten their start in the business and the United States thanks to Ngoy, they were happy to help. Refugees who had sought his advice now avoided him, fearing he would ask for a loan. No days off. But on a later trip Ted had a go on the blackjack tables, and soon he was hooked on the glamour and the adrenaline. Why are we still having these debates? in Irvine, L.A. became the country's epicenter of donut culture when Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian immigrant, arrived in California during the 1970s. I never loved you.' But Cambodians were leaving the business, tired of working 17-hour days and squeezing a 13-cent profit from every 65-cent doughnut. At each stop, they set up the business and trained the families who leased it. Doughnut shops were easy to run. He found a second job at a gas station. "[1], Ted Ngoy was born in the Cambodian village of Sisophon near the country's border with Thailand. Chuong Lee, who has run DK's Donuts since 1988, is officially retired although she occasionally helps out at the shop. Never surrender. Once, he was a poor boy who carried away one of Cambodias wealthiest daughters. "If I need the vote, I cannot gamble. Once a paragon in the community, refugees now avoided him for fear of being asked for a loan. 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