in San Clemente and, of course, DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. In the early 1990s, it was reported that California had 2,400 Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. While he was recovering in hospital, Suganthini also made an attempt on her life. All the boys at his school were in love with her, and as a poor half-Chinese boy from a village near the Thai border he had no chance. It actually made national, if not international, news about the kindness of these people in Orange County. Like Ngoy, most of the people who leased his stores were Chinese Cambodian. "He was a little uneasy," Gu says. "It's impossible to explain that money had nothing to do with it. So he named his own political party the Free Development Republican Party. At the weekend the oldest children, Chet and Savy, then nine and eight, helped out by pouring coffee, packing doughnuts and folding boxes. Pit bosses, floor men and dealers at Caesars Palace, the MGM Grand and the Mirage got to know the Cambodian doughnut king. Besides, he reasoned, as a politician he would not be able to gamble. Gu is working on developing a couple of music-themed film projects, both documentaries and narratives. When he couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. He lost all the doughnuts, said James Dok, director of the United Cambodian Community, a social service agency in Long Beach. Today, at 62, the doughnut king is broke, homeless and dependent on the goodwill of his few remaining friends. The family members worked 17 hours a day and saved for a year. Upon deeper glance, it was so personal for me. LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network. He suggested that Ted hang out in the back and to put Christy in the front. Ngoy wrote to her. Her parents and cousins hid behind curtains so they could hear him break off the relationship. Also, significantly for Ngoy, other Cambodian refugees and their children donuts. 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. Ted began to look for more doughnut shops to buy and lease to fellow refugees. The families who followed Ngoys lead learned to run businesses and picked up English. Sent to the city to study, Ngoy met the beautiful Suganthini Khoeun who was the daughter of a government. They made a blood pact, promising to be forever faithful. He is wealthy again. "We were happy - until the gambling came to wreck my life. 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. Ngoy told Suganthini that he didnt love her. At a news conference, he dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. On Sundays, he attends Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach. Why are we still having these debates? Ted and a lot of the Asians who came aligned themselves with the Republican party. A woman from his church lets him sleep in the screened porch outside her mobile home, which he has fashioned into a makeshift bedroom. Ted remembers hiding from her behind the slot machines. He also figured that as a prominent politician, he would be forced to control his gambling habit. Filmmaker Alice Gu (left) poses with Mayly Tao outside DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. Beautiful views aren't the only thing drawing Angelenos to the region. 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. 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. His few shirts and pants hang from a clothesline. Why would anybody be interested in my story?' The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The next day, he flew back to Los Angeles. This is my own speculation, but it seemed like he had come to some peace with his dad and childhood. "I cry. "It went like fire on the hill, so fast," says Ted. 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. His party did poorly in the 1993 and 1998 parliamentary elections, but Prime Minister Hun Sen made him an advisor on commerce and agriculture. I just do it.. 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. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit Well, the biggest problem I was facing, that was the gambling, and it completely wiped me out, you know, separate of the family. But the name was misleading. Ted Ngoy in The Donut King documentary. Tao did everything in her power to help Gu. He was, however, invited to become a government adviser on commerce and agriculture. When he was working in the donut shop, he went to his sponsor and said he was having a hard time. I think there's nothing wrong for them to lie to the embassy because everybody needs a chance to survive. He remarried and had four more children - the youngest two are still at school. [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. "Before I'd never gambled, but like all the compulsive gamblers in the world, first you throw in a couple of bucks, $10, $20. But within weeks he was back on a plane to Vegas. Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. Read about our approach to external linking. Alongside doughnuts, they sell imported American goods - everything from Pop-Tarts to Starbucks Frappucinos. In return, he played their tables and lost thousands of dollars. But I still win. Suganthini was terrified, but she let the stranger stay. the It was on the market. Bush, met former Presidents Reagan and Nixon, and urged other Asian immigrants to support the GOP. Suganthinis father ran out from hiding and called an ambulance. So I decided to change.". and California landscape with a familiar coat yellow strip mall signs with red lettering reading Christys Donuts. "Some of them were cousins, uncles, nieces," says Ted. They wont trust you, he said. I say, Ted I dont think its that easy at all. And hell respond, Ive been rich three times. After completing the company's training program, they gave him the keys to a store in Newport Beach. Don't die. He slept under the bed and hid when the maids came to clean. 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. After earning a communications degree at UC San Diego, Tao worked for a while at a news station but wasn't enthused about that career path. COVID origins? 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. I instantly found the Realtor, the listing agent and arranged to go and have Ted walk through his old house. [6] Gu persuaded him to and, ultimately, he regarded his return as a 'healing experience,' and his ex-wife and children have forgiven him. She ended up threatening to starve herself, saying, "If you won't let me be with him, I'm not going to eat.". It's something Ted feels a bit bad about. It's a monster in me.". "It's a crazy story, but it's true," says Ted, now 78. Their fairy tale romance is so distant, she said, its as if it happened to someone else. Her brother-in-law, Sutsakhan Sak, was chief of police and would become, briefly, the countrys president. Once a paragon in the community, refugees now avoided him for fear of being asked for a loan. Her name was Suganthini Khoeun. "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.". [6][3], Ngoy bought additional doughnut shops in Orange County. After a year of running two shops they had saved $40,000 and Ted decided to expand. Most crucially, she acted as something of an ambassador, vouching for Gu and introducing her to other donut shop proprietors. Ted Ngoy: Yeah. He was Chinese Cambodian, part of a despised underclass. Abcarian: Mask mandates? She would discover big losses, and they would argue, sending their children running to their rooms. They had lost their beautiful home and their chain of shops, but still had enough money to live comfortably. And a new figure emerged on the California business landscape: the Cambodian doughnut-shop owner. Ted Ngoy had served in the Cambodian army as a major fighting communists that were trying to take over that country's government in the 1970s. So, I just did it. Streaming now on PBS. 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. "[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. [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. Everybody cry," 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. It was hurtful. The family worked 12 to 17 hours a day, with all hands on deck. 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. 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. (Elina Shatkin/LAist). When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. I could have made a special piece just on the history of donuts. In 1978 Vietnamese troops invaded and in 1979 Pol Pot was overthrown, leading to another wave of Cambodian refugees. Interviews can sometimes feel like a therapy session. Along with thousands of other Cambodian refugees, the Ngoys ended up at Camp Pendleton. "Using money to provide for others is a feeling as powerful as any drug," he later wrote. People made fun of his accent. "But what shall we do in the morning? in Irvine, Ted worked as the church janitor but he soon realised earning $500 a month wouldn't be enough to support his family. The details that aren't in the movie are even crazier. Then he opened his first independent shop in La Habra, eventually covering the rest of O.C. 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. 'How I got rich beating men at their own game'. until 2014 A day before he left, his eldest son said if you have $3.2 million you can buy it. Instead, she told him about a training programme run by the doughnut chain, Winchell's. ', "If you could turn the clock around, I would do that. He wanted to be with her, but he had no one else to manage the shop. "They forgive me fully. Over the years, he led thousands of his countrymen into the 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. 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. "a short-lived comeback in Sacramento in 2002," the Massachusetts-based company didn't return to the Golden State "Cambodian people owe them a lot.". This is going to happen.'". [citation needed] Ngoy's political career ended in 2002 after breaking with two powerful allies, the commerce minister and the head of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce, Teng Bunma. "He's like, 'You know what? Ted joined the Republican Party, held fundraisers for George H.W. When Christy's parents eventually discovered the ruse, they were furious. 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. About 30 Christys Doughnuts were still in operation, as were hundreds of other Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. He said hes Chinese Cambodian and we spoke Mandarin for a couple of minutes. 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. Every evening, he sat by his open window and played the flute. Twice he joined a Buddhist monastery. Before sunrise, they would climb back into her room. "I came back to L.A. and I didn't know that I was going to create this crazy explosion in the business. "I spent about $100,000 of my own money, my time, my everything," he says. By 1976, Ted had saved up enough money to buy his own shop, which he named Christy's. 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." . The whole community banded together and they all agreed to sell him out of donuts every morning by 9 a.m. Ngoy became a trainee and took over a Winchell's in Newport Beach. All night long Ted would watch people buying coffee and doughnuts, and he realised it was a good business. He also sponsored more than 100 Cambodian refugee families and established a path of financial opportunity for them in America. And then we started communicating, bringing back and forth the messages," Ted says. Working all hours, Ted and Christy knew very little about what was happening back home in Cambodia, but what they heard was bad. Gu says Christy's family then threatened to kill Ted but his mother made a deal with them. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted,. A cinematographer who has worked on commercials and movies with Rory Kennedy, Werner Herzog and Stacy Peralta, she stumbled onto the subject after her nanny brought her some "Cambodian donuts. 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. She later discovered that they were among the first to be executed by the Khmer Rouge. The Donut King is a 2020 American documentary film which tells the life story of California donut shop owner Ted Ngoy. "I learned to bake, to take care of payroll, cleaning, sales - everything," he says. But he admits he was also aware that conquering Suganthini's heart held out the promise of a better life. He helped them apply for permits. A week later, Suganthini wrote back, and the two began a secret correspondence. He wrote a note, telling her that he lived in the building opposite and was the flute player. 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