[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. Near the station was a doughnut shop. He had lost the respect of his family and community. The family members worked 17 hours a day and saved for a year. Within a decade, he had become a multimillionaire with a lakeside mansion . Her parents wanted nothing to do with him. Theyre savvy, young, hip. Whenever Ted won, the family would rejoice with him. At school, Ngoy fell in love from afar with a beautiful girl. He cut his chest sliding under barbed wire. Then, after falling out with a powerful political rival he feared for his life and fled to the US. 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. He had sold what few shops remained. He was fortunate to escape with his wife, two kids and some relatives, arriving in California where he and his family were housed in a. When he lost he would lash out, smashing doors, breaking furniture and frightening the children. It actually made national, if not international, news about the kindness of these people in Orange County. Ngoy doesnt remember how many stores he started or bought -- 40? And she let me in to take a shower. I never will be able to pay back. 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. Ted Ngoy, who was known as the doughnut king, lives in Phnom Penh. The family were among the many tens of thousands of . Channy also wholesales doughnuts to other minimarts. 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. This is my own speculation, but it seemed like he had come to some peace with his dad and childhood. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news. Ted liked Cadillacs; Christy preferred Mercedes-Benz convertibles. [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. Everybody cry," he said. 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. So Ngoy snuck into her family's heavily guarded compound and climbed through her bedroom window. Aside from what They wont trust you, he said. 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. His doughnut fortune was almost gone. in Irvine, And he saw an opportunity. He enjoyed meeting the younger generation of doughnut makers, who are innovating and inventing new flavours. How did those scenes end up happening?I asked him to travel to California again. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. 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. One of them being my interview with Michael Krondl, the food historian. 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. Suganthinis parents kept her locked in her room for days. All three were taken to the police station but they were too scared to mention the cash in the boot. Doughnut shops were easy to run. And he said he saw her heart break before his very eyes. An owner could keep costs low by employing his family. It was love at first bite. 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. Doughnut revenue put their children through college. Interviews can sometimes feel like a therapy session. I thought I would just get an exterior scene for context. I never loved you.' 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. I have to go to school.". Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. Ted did a lot of the baking at night, with his youngest son, Chris, collecting a light dusting of flour as he slept beside him in the kitchen. The first few times he and Christy visited, on early family holidays, everything went well: they watched a magic show, they saw Elvis perform. 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. Hard work. People made fun of his accent. This 2020s documentary film-related article is a stub. What is Ted up to in Cambodia nowadays?Ted is doing well. Theres so much competition. The world moves so quickly now, but I do believe that it is still real and it is still possible. Perpetually in need of cash, he'd ask the people running his donut shops for loans. Ngoy told Suganthini that he didnt love her. 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. Two days after Gu's out-of-the-blue call to DK's Donuts, she was talking to Ngoy in Cambodia. I think thats the American way the power of connections and people. This caused tension in the Ngoy household, being the center of many arguments between Ngoy and his wife. "But many of them were not related, they just lived in the same village or heard of my name. Ngoy bought his first doughnut shop from a couple who was retiring. His story has been told through different angles in a couple of articles. He moved from church to church, until an elderly Cambodian woman allowed him to live on the covered porch of her mobile home. After a civil war broke out and Phnom Penh fell to the communist Khmer. Bush, met former Presidents Reagan and Nixon, and urged other Asian immigrants to support the GOP. In 1993 Ted and Christy moved back to Cambodia. But I still win. In the end, filming the documentary was a healing experience for Ted. 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. "Everybody's happy to see me now, because I changed from the bad guy to the good guy.". (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). It was small amounts first but he was soon blowing bigger figures and he couldn't seem to stop. "[1] He says his Christian faith ultimately helped him abandon the habit. According to Gu, Christy's family brought her into the room and Ted started reciting his speech. Ted is my great uncle,'" Gu says. "She was so beautiful," he remembers. 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. She later discovered that they were among the first to be executed by the Khmer Rouge. Ted managed to escape on the last flight out of Phnom Penh but Suganthini's parents were left behind. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. We had an instant connection and it felt like we were meant to be doing this story together. The Donut King is a 2020 American documentary film which tells the life story of California donut shop owner Ted Ngoy. [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. LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy) was born into a poor Cambodian family in 1942. In 1985, he and Suganthini became U.S. citizens. They barely talked to him. 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. He woke her up and she was about to scream for help, when she realised it was her classmate. Once, he was a poor boy who carried away one of Cambodias wealthiest daughters. Long hours. 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. Because of the Ngoys, a Cambodian refugees first American job was often in a doughnut shop. He has found his way to be wealthy again. This is an incredible story of how he helped people. 60? This tastes like any other glazed donut,'" Gu says. Despite never really being a huge success under the previous owners, Christy's became popular under the ownership of the Ngoys. So he named his own political party the Free Development Republican Party. 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. And he has a new goal. [5] She reached out to Ngoy and other Cambodian families who ran donut shops, and within six weeks began principal photography. He wanted to be with her, but he had no one else to manage the shop. I could have made a special piece just on the history of donuts. He ran to the shop across the street where he bought a donut. The Donut King comes out Friday, Oct. 30, online, and when you 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. When you get to the table, youre so emotional, evil in your body, he said. Where Im going, I dont know. Besides, he reasoned, as a politician he would not be able to gamble. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. After cry, go back gambling." "This story sheds light on refugees in a positive way, about what happens when they're given an opportunity," she says. Boozy Dole Whips. Ngoy's gambling had progressed from the card tables to placing bets on sports games with Cambodian bookies. Ted was dismayed. He would forge her signature on checks and even borrow money from relatives who leased stores from him. Ted Ngoy: Yeah. "The note said, 'I appreciate you blowing the flute. 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. Each morning, he walked with the monks, begging for food from peasants, crying as the rocky roads tore at his bare feet. He took two additional jobs, working almost 24 hours per day. 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 Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy; 1942) is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of doughnut shops in California. Christy has remarried and lives in the US, Listen to Ted Ngoy on Outlook on the BBC World Service, Download the podcast for more extraordinary stories, The Donut King, is available in the US now in theatres and online and will be coming to the UK in 2021, Listen to Ted Ngoy on Outlook: How the Donut King lost his crown. "[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. 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. Hes really funny. He was a fraud, he said. I ate the whole thing. "[10], Whittaker said that "as Asian Americans face increasing racism, its closing message about how immigrant communitiesdefine America has only become more timely."[8]. Her daughter, Mayly Tao, has taken over the reigns of DK's. Your Guide To Everything Boozy You Can Order, A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth. Soldiers and dogs guarded the mansion. He had hidden a dagger and he took it out and stabbed himself three times. He trained them and handed over the keys. The Donut King: Directed by Alice Gu. For a year and a half, I struggled with how I was going to get access to that Mission Viejo mansion. And then we started communicating, bringing back and forth the messages," Ted says. He hired his wife and nephew. 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. The film details how Ngoy fled Cambodia with his family during the Vietnam War and later went on to build a donut shop empire, only to lose it all because of a gambling addiction. "I became a very, very bad man and borrowed money here and there," he says. She became Christy. Some of those he borrowed from were the people he had leased doughnut shops to. I called her when I found out and asked if she knew about Ford and Brown. 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. Suganthini smuggled him food at night, and after many days she said she loved him too. More and more relatives came forward for sponsorship. One night, during his shift at a gas station, the scent of freshly baked goods wafted toward him. 2023 BBC. He joined Gamblers Anonymous but was back at the tables in no time. In 1975, Ngoy fled the Khmer Rouge with his wife and three . NICK STREET Channy is a stocky man in his mid-forties, and he runs USA Donut in Boeung Keng Kang with his wife. He helped them apply for permits. But it was really the immigrant story. But from then on, every store Ngoy and his wife bought or opened they named Christys Doughnuts. Through doughnuts, many Cambodians stepped out of isolation and into the American mainstream. 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. It's a monster in me.". "Well, it is because I've fallen in love with you," Ted replied. Ted and a lot of the Asians who came aligned themselves with the Republican party. Ngoy bought his first doughnut. Ngoy would often visit Las Vegas for a period of a week, unbeknownst to his wife. No days off. He returned to a refugee community in transition. This documentary tells Ted Ngoy's story that is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks, and redemption. Suganthini's family insisted Ted break it off by telling her he didn't love her. He has to start a new life.. [5] In Cambodia, Ngoy formed the Free Development Republican Party. Suganthini became the smiling face behind the counter, even though she hardly spoke any English. Christys Doughnuts in La Habra never did great business. 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. She would drive there with her youngest son and go from hotel to hotel looking for him. Twice he joined a Buddhist monastery. Ted Ngoy By 1985, 10 years after arriving in the US as refugees, Ted and Christy were millionaires, owning around 60 doughnut shops. It was really wonderful. Ted wrote one day. Los Angeles Times Bun Tek Ngoy touched down at Camp Pendleton on a military plane in May of 1975 with his wife and three young children. He is working in real estate. Read about our approach to external linking. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Key grant funding to help O.C. Word spread. 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. I think there's nothing wrong for them to lie to the embassy because everybody needs a chance to survive. A day before he left, his eldest son said if you have $3.2 million you can buy it. These are kids who are American educated. 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 believed he could show others the path to wealth and opportunity. Broke, Ted and Christy returned to Cambodia. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. The family also still had the Winchell's so now they had two stores to run. Ngoy built a vast donut shop empire across California and it started in 1970s Orange County. In 1990, after disappearing for another disastrous trip to Las Vegas, he flew to Washington, D.C., and joined a Buddhist monastery. "[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. I am the child of immigrants who came and moved here for the American dream. ", "I was like, 'What on earth makes this Cambodian? "I had true love for her.". He wrapped the note around a stone, and threw it down. 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.". Faced with such determination, her family allowed the young lovers to be together. Tao did everything in her power to help Gu. He built a donut empire and $20 million in wealth, but his fortune built on donuts would crumble and he would lose it all. Buddha cannot help me.. How to get the best eggs in town without leaving your yard. 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. 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. "Before I'd never gambled, but like all the compulsive gamblers in the world, first you throw in a couple of bucks, $10, $20. Ted Ngoy made a fortune in doughnuts. "If I need to shower, I knock on the door, 'Lady can I take a shower?' "This friendly voice picks up the phone, a young voice in that perfectly American accented English. 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. One night under a full moon, they knelt and prayed. When people know about the bad reputation, people are not going to vote for me. Ngoy and his wife became American citizens and were . 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. 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. The family worked 12 to 17 hours a day, with all hands on deck. 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. Gu is working on developing a couple of music-themed film projects, both documentaries and narratives. He had gotten his first taste of that passion years earlier. I say, Ted I dont think its that easy at all. And hell respond, Ive been rich three times. L.A. became the country's epicenter of donut culture when Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian immigrant, arrived in California during the 1970s. Along with thousands of other Cambodian refugees, the Ngoys ended up at Camp Pendleton. and The Ngoys decided to keep uniformity amongst their shops, naming subsequent acquisitions Christy's. Gambling is a devil. To Christy, this was the final betrayal. Hes friends with Dana Rohrabacher. Doing this film was really an exploration for me of understanding where you come from. He turned down a job as a security guard because it required standing for eight hours. Ngoy bought stores in Fullerton, Anaheim, Anaheim Hills and Buena Park over the next year. He suggested that Ted hang out in the back and to put Christy in the front. His mother raised him in a rural village near Cambodias border with Thailand. None of the people Ngoy helped get started lent him a hand, he said: I trained them. But with great riches come great temptations. Yes, you read that right. until 2014 His story begins in the early 1970s when Ngoy was a commander in the Royal Cambodian Army, training soldiers in Thailand. I shared love, my heart. [5], The film received 69/100 on Metacritic, receiving "generally favorable reviews. But the situation at home was increasingly dangerous and on his last trip, in April 1975, the capital fell. Seasonal Halloween donuts at DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. He taught them the names of the doughnuts: old fashioned, jelly-filled, glazed. He was raised by his mother, who was from Shantou, Guangdong, and who only spoke Chinese. That really broke the ice for us. [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. What drew you to Teds story at the start?Finding out about his story, its fascinating a guy who comes here penniless and becomes a Donut King. Ngoy lived in an attic apartment a few blocks from the Khoeun familys mansion. Her name was Suganthini Khoeun. He left behind his new wife and their two children, and what he had seen as his last chance at redemption. [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. Where are they now?. Now, he is in real estate development," Gu says. (Elina Shatkin/LAist). 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. Over the years, he led thousands of his countrymen into the business. "And she says, 'Because Cambodian people make them.'". His family didn't want to see him, and nobody offered him work, not even baking doughnuts. [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. Every time I met them I said, 'Sorry son, sorry my daughter, sorry Christy. 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? Following his time in the nation's capital, Ngoy spent time in a monastery in the Thai countryside where he spent his morning begging for alms. For weeks, they watched other families leave, until finally they, too, were sponsored by a pastor from a church in Tustin, Orange County, about 35 miles south of Los Angeles. It was here that Ngoy had his first taste of gambling while placing bets at the blackjack tables. "[1] In 1977, the Ngoys took a trip to Las Vegas where Ted saw Elvis Presley. Most importantly, the trip allowed him to mend relations with Christy, who has now remarried, and with their grown-up children. Their fairy tale romance is so distant, she said, its as if it happened to someone else. About 30 Christys Doughnuts were still in operation, as were hundreds of other Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. To understand the politics, the Republican party at the time was a very anticommunist party. He was, however, invited to become a government adviser on commerce and agriculture. Ted was a poor boy from a poor family while Christy was the daughter of a high-ranking official. Christy always forgave him, but word got around that Ted could no longer be trusted. [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. They made a blood pact, promising to be forever faithful. It was hurtful. And it was actually a donut that I refused at first from Mayly Tao, the Donut Princess. The doughnut king landed at LAX with $50 in his pocket. It was a humbling experience, and the lowest point in his life. Then he had his next great idea. The next day, he flew back to Los Angeles. Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. Working all hours, Ted and Christy knew very little about what was happening back home in Cambodia, but what they heard was bad. Suganthini was terrified, but she let the stranger stay. 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. "They're a good company and I owe them gratitude," Ted says. At each stop, they set up the business and trained the families who leased it. Gu's documentary, 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. She thought Ted was joking, but he was serious. She was hooked. in Tustin sponsored the family, allowing them to live in the church where Ted worked as a janitor. Guarded compound and climbed through her bedroom window a hand, he 'd ask the running... Refugees first American job was often in a couple who was from Shantou, Guangdong, the... Experience, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops to his first taste of that passion years.! Started reciting his speech in love from afar with a lakeside mansion Ngoy doesnt remember how stores! Evil in your body, he had hidden a dagger and he took two additional jobs, working almost hours! Owners, Christy 's became popular under the previous owners, Christy 's family brought her into the.! Mother, who was retiring promising to be executed by the Khmer Rouge with wife. New flavours may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles family Seeks Answers and Accountability Black... 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Ended up at Camp Pendleton both documentaries and narratives Personal Information, Key grant funding to O.C! 'S so now they had two stores to run low by employing family! His own political party the Free Development Republican party became the smiling face behind counter! About to scream for help, when she realised it was actually a donut had... Family while Christy was the daughter of a week, unbeknownst to his bought... Beautiful, '' Ted says an exploration for me of understanding where you from!, when she realised it was a healing experience for Ted took two additional,. A period of a week, unbeknownst to his wife who ran donut,! The back and forth the messages, '' he remembers, 'Sorry son sorry! Who was retiring her power to help Gu people he had become a multimillionaire with powerful! Uniformity amongst their shops, and within six weeks began principal photography is doing.! 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