Dear reader, we're asking you to help us keep local news available for all. Hard work. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy; 1942) is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of doughnut shops in California. In Cambodia, Ngoy formed the Free Development Republican Party. He is working in real estate. You cannot resist against it.. Then he had his next great idea. These are kids who are American educated. Aside from what 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. One night, during his shift at a gas station, the scent of freshly baked goods wafted toward him. He took two additional jobs, working almost 24 hours per day. [4], Ngoy secured work as a janitor with Peace Lutheran Church in Tustin, California. In the early 1990s, it was reported that California had 2,400 Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. The Top 5 newsletter catches you up with LAs top 5 stories in just 3 minutes. Then he flew to a monastery in the Thai countryside. I ended up not sharing that donut. Ted's story is told in a new documentary. On hearing the music float across the quiet city, Suganthini's mother remarked that whoever was playing must be in love. , 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. 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. This caused tension in the Ngoy household, being the center of many arguments between Ngoy and his wife. Upon his return to Orange County, Ngoy began gambling harder than ever stating "Monks cannot help me, Buddha cannot help me. Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. "[5] Upon looking into the matter, she learned about Ted Ngoy and became fascinated with the topic. Eventually, her parents discovered Ngoy and threw him out. Still penniless, after nearly four years of exile, Ted flew back to Cambodia. 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. 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. But the situation at home was increasingly dangerous and on his last trip, in April 1975, the capital fell. The rise & fall of The Donut King. ', "If you could turn the clock around, I would do that. Ngoy doesnt remember how many stores he started or bought -- 40? I just do it.. He shaved his head and spent three months barefoot in Thailand, coming back emaciated and a changed man - or so he thought. It was love at first bite. On Sundays he would go to the church where her son was the pastor and join in Bible studies. 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. [8], After Cambodia's establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1993, Ngoy, along with his wife, returned to the country for its first elections. Ted managed to escape on the last flight out of Phnom Penh but Suganthini's parents were left behind. How did those scenes end up happening?I asked him to travel to California again. He lobbied his contacts in the Republican inner circle, including Senator John McCain, and MFN status was granted permanently in 1996. [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. And she let me in to take a shower. Ngoy joined the army. "I became a very, very bad man and borrowed money here and there," he says. When the couple recovered, her parents finally allowed them to marry. Over four years nearly two million Cambodians were either executed, or died of starvation, disease and overwork. The details that aren't in the movie are even crazier. By 2002 Ted was broke. The Donut King comes out Friday, Oct. 30, online, and when you Tell us about your wife. That's because of a refugee who built up an empire, and became known as the Donut King, only to lose it all. California Sunday On Sundays, he attends Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach. Ted became their first South East Asian trainee. 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. Boozy Dole Whips. In less than two years, while working on other jobs and projects, Gu directed and shot the 94-minute documentary. I told him that he has a story to tell. Upon deeper glance, it was so personal for me. "Using money to provide for others is a feeling as powerful as any drug," he later wrote. Ngoy became a trainee and took over a Winchell's in Newport Beach. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. [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. Although there is still some resentment towards him in the Cambodian community, whose hard-earned cash he gambled away, he is also revered by many. But Cambodians were leaving the business, tired of working 17-hour days and squeezing a 13-cent profit from every 65-cent doughnut. 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. "This friendly voice picks up the phone, a young voice in that perfectly American accented English. 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. At the weekend the oldest children, Chet and Savy, then nine and eight, helped out by pouring coffee, packing doughnuts and folding boxes. . COVID-19 has hit her store and most other shops hard. 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. Ted Ngoy was born in Sisophon, Cambodia. , chronicles Ngoy's thrill-of-victory/agony-of-defeat rollercoaster ride through the American Dream immigration, capitalism, history, hubris, romance, addiction, family and food. Also Jerry Brown, who weve seen in California as our beacon of hope and morality, in 1975 was actually the opposite. He credits his Christian faith with finally curing his gambling addiction, although he confesses he liked to bet on football games until last year. Read about our approach to external linking. Over the years, he led thousands of his countrymen into the business. "[10], Whittaker said that "as Asian Americans face increasing racism, its closing message about how immigrant communitiesdefine America has only become more timely."[8]. The couple and their three toddlers arrived penniless at Camp Pendleton, part of the first wave of Cambodian refugees. "They forgive me fully. Ted Ngoy was a high school student in Phnom Penh when he first set eyes on Suganthini Khoeun, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. Word spread. Through doughnuts, many Cambodians stepped out of isolation and into the American mainstream. But the name was misleading. It's so amazing, so touching.' His party did poorly in the 1993 and 1998 parliamentary elections, but Prime Minister Hun Sen made him an advisor on commerce and agriculture. More and more relatives came forward for sponsorship. The Donut King: Directed by Alice Gu. To think about what Ted did years ago letting bygones be bygones. According to Gu, Christy's family brought her into the room and Ted started reciting his speech. If you can dream it, they're probably mixing it somewhere on property. DK's Donuts Then he would return to Vegas in an attempt to win back what he had lost. Ngoy was one. So I decided to change.". Ted Ngoy: Yeah. Ted had met Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., [Richard] Nixon. But then one of Suganthini's servants appeared at his door with a reply. One night in a pouring rain, Ngoy scaled a coconut tree beside the wall surrounding her home. He wrapped the note around a stone, and threw it down. Then when dinner is ready, she knocks on the door and I open the door to have dinner.". 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. Ngoy's epic rags-to-riches-to-rags story has been chronicled before (in the in Santa Monica. Where are they now?. "They're a good company and I owe them gratitude," Ted says. I just want to create as many as I can, he said. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. "a short-lived comeback in Sacramento in 2002," the Massachusetts-based company didn't return to the Golden State It also reminds us that several U.S. presidents welcomed a flood of refugees with open arms. When there was an overrun of pink doughnut boxes Ted bought them cut-price, and the pink boxes became his trademark. But it was really the immigrant story. Suganthinis parents kept her locked in her room for days. 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. 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." . As many as I could.". Ngoy forged her signature on checks. He became Ted. He landed in LA with less than $100 in his pocket - all the money he had left. "I cry. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. 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. He had hidden a dagger and he took it out and stabbed himself three times. But on a later trip Ted had a go on the blackjack tables, and soon he was hooked on the glamour and the adrenaline. 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. And a new figure emerged on the California business landscape: the Cambodian doughnut-shop owner. After Ted revealed his presence to Christy, he hid under her bed until he was eventually discovered and her family allowed them be together. He had met Richard Nixon, the former president, and Presidents Reagan and George HW Bush. Oh, and stop for a donut and say "hi.". They barely talked to him. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. On the porch of a friends mobile home in Long Beach, the Cambodian doughnut king falls asleep each night shivering. He wanted to buy more, but he was exhausted running the five he owned. Ted remembers hiding from her behind the slot machines. He had sold what few shops remained. He says to me, Alice, making money its so easy. Few foods are as universally adored as fried dough. He joined Gamblers Anonymous but was back at the tables in no time. Gu is working on developing a couple of music-themed film projects, both documentaries and narratives. All three were taken to the police station but they were too scared to mention the cash in the boot. But while she was gone Ted had an affair. They would speed through Phnom Penh on his motorcycle, the couple recalled. When you first reached out to Ted, it was a cold call. Ted and a lot of the Asians who came aligned themselves with the Republican party. His story begins in the early 1970s when Ngoy was a commander in the Royal Cambodian Army, training soldiers in Thailand. In 1978 Vietnamese troops invaded and in 1979 Pol Pot was overthrown, leading to another wave of Cambodian refugees. 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. The Ngoys helped hundreds of refugees find housing and apply for Social Security cards. I think thats the American way the power of connections and people. Once again Suganthini was the friendly face welcoming customers, and when she became a US citizen she took the name Christy as her own. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy) was born into a poor Cambodian family in 1942. The premise of family in the film is how hard your parents work and the sacrifices they make so that you can have a life better than they did. After completing the company's training program, they gave him the keys to a store in Newport Beach. 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. "But what shall we do in the morning? With the pastor's permission he went out and got two more jobs, as a sales person from 6pm to 10pm and petrol attendant from 10pm to 6am. I thought I would just get an exterior scene for context. Ngoy had become an example to other Cambodian immigrants, who began to follow his business model for their own entrepreneurial endeavors. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). He hired his wife and nephew. One of them being my interview with Michael Krondl, the food historian. In English, Mandarin and Cambodian with English subtitles; Not rated, Playing: Regency South Coast Village, Santa Ana, and in limited release where theaters are open; available via virtual cinemas, including Laemmle Theatres. "[8] Giving it three-out-of-four stars, Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com called the The Donut King "a heartwarming albeit scattered documentary from director Alice Gu," and praised the film for "its balance of poppy visuals and detailed history. To make sure he went through with it, they insisted on hiding behind a curtain while he said his spiel. And then we started communicating, bringing back and forth the messages," Ted says. Christy Ngoy now owns a Peruvian restaurant in Irvine. "[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. "I spent about $100,000 of my own money, my time, my everything," he says. Ted and Christy are divorced. Monks cannot help me, he said. I gave her my spiel, and she said, 'Well, you've called the right person. 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. I was addicted to a feeling, and money was simply the needle that delivered the toxic dose," he writes in his autobiography, also called The Donut King. I said, 'Because it's incredible, for one. This is going to happen.'". Ted became deeply religious. 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. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. 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. Near the station was a doughnut shop. Ngoy attempted Gamblers Anonymous, but denied it helped with his situation, stating that when he went to meetings "I cry, everybody cry. He says his gambling is under control -- though he has no money with which to test this will power. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment) When you first reached out to Ted, it. One night under a full moon, they knelt and prayed. The next day, he flew back to Los Angeles. Peace Lutheran Church in Tustin hired Ngoy as a janitor. That's a disaster," he says. With the help of his brother-in-law, he was promoted to major and appointed military attache at the countrys embassy in Thailand. in Irvine, That phrase Donut King is already so eye-catching right off the bat. This documentary tells Ted Ngoy's story that is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks, and redemption. "Everybody's happy to see me now, because I changed from the bad guy to the good guy.". She would discover big losses, and they would argue, sending their children running to their rooms. In saffron robes and shaved head, the doughnut king spent a month meditating. Her brother-in-law, Sutsakhan Sak, was chief of police and would become, briefly, the countrys president. Volcanic tiki drinks. Over the last few years, Tao has rebranded the shop with a colorful, hot pink logo and experimented in the kitchen, producing eye-catching, Instagram-friendly creations and original flavors. He says he hid in her room for 45 days until he was discovered. When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. Interviews can sometimes feel like a therapy session. I cant take credit for it, but I do feel like in the making of this film and having some of these people face feelings that they hadnt confronted in many years, it was very healing. 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. I'm not famous. Ngoy is Cambodian and he was in Phnom Penh when it fell. Bush, met former Presidents Reagan and Nixon, and urged other Asian immigrants to support the GOP. 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. Ngoy lived in an attic apartment a few blocks from the Khoeun familys mansion. 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. Then he opened his first independent shop in La Habra, eventually covering the rest of O.C. 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. Gu realized his story was also an epic romance. Oklahoma-style smash burgers and Georgian dumplings make for some excellent cheap bites in Glendale, Husband and wife Felix Agyei and Hazel Rojas combine food from their heritages, creating a marriage of West African and Filipino cooking. 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. He did as he was told, but then pulled out a knife and stabbed himself, declaring he would rather die than live without her. 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. NICK STREET Channy is a stocky man in his mid-forties, and he runs USA Donut in Boeung Keng Kang with his wife. It was here that Ngoy had his first taste of gambling while placing bets at the blackjack tables. When you get to the table, youre so emotional, evil in your body, he said. I say, Ted, who are you? I really dont know.. He trained them and handed over the keys. . When people know about the bad reputation, people are not going to vote for me. As word of Ted's success spread, Cambodian immigrants started seeking him out when they arrived in Southern California. Gu's documentary, Until then, she was kept sheltered. Gu first needed to find Ted Ngoy but she had no idea how to do it. While working a second job at a gas station, Ngoy took notice of a busy local doughnut shop and inquired of its operators about learning the business. Ngoy's gambling had progressed from the card tables to placing bets on sports games with Cambodian bookies. Never give up. It was really wonderful. Ted Ngoy in The Donut King documentary. A map of Christys Donuts, Winchells and Dunkin Donuts across California during the height of Ted Ngoys entrepreneurship in the 1970s through the 1990s. Over the years, he says he sponsored more than 100 Cambodian families that wanted to come to the U.S. Christy was in the front and made a lot of inroads with the community and built a lot of bridges. 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. He lost all the doughnuts, said James Dok, director of the United Cambodian Community, a social service agency in Long Beach. By the mid-1980s, he was a millionaire. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted,. The next day, he flew back to Los Angeles leaving behind his new wife and their two children. Broke, Ted and Christy returned to Cambodia. And I thought, How could that be? Hes passed away now so I cant talk to him about it, but it was a learning experience for me about my parents relationship with politics. It took longer than 40 years. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. 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