That really broke the ice for us. And she let me in to take a shower. I gave her my spiel, and she said, 'Well, you've called the right person. 'How I got rich beating men at their own game'. In order to be allowed to leave the camp and find work, they needed an American sponsor, who would find them a job and somewhere to live. He became tired running doughnut shops on his own and decided to train and lease shops to his relatives and employ Cambodian refugees. 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. "The more you chase, the more it's gone," he says in a new documentary about his rise and fall, called The Donut King. It was a humbling experience, and the lowest point in his life. "[5] Upon looking into the matter, she learned about Ted Ngoy and became fascinated with the topic. Gab Chabrn reflects on growing up in L.A. in a Latino home that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving and the traditions they formed instead. But the situation at home was increasingly dangerous and on his last trip, in April 1975, the capital fell. In saffron robes and shaved head, the doughnut king spent a month meditating. They would speed through Phnom Penh on his motorcycle, the couple recalled. He wrote a note, telling her that he lived in the building opposite and was the flute player. Gu's documentary, Soldiers and dogs guarded the mansion. That phrase Donut King is already so eye-catching right off the bat. They pricked their fingers and squeezed drops of blood into a cup of water. Ted was the consummate schmoozer and salesman. He had sold what few shops remained. He credits his Christian faith with finally curing his gambling addiction, although he confesses he liked to bet on football games until last year. They saw Elvis Presley perform, and Ted played a little blackjack. He was a fraud, he said. 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. Los Angeles Times Rose Donuts and Cafe Within a decade, he had become a multimillionaire with a lakeside mansion . On hearing the music float across the quiet city, Suganthini's mother remarked that whoever was playing must be in love. When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. One night under a full moon, they knelt and prayed. And I feel so much hurt. He enjoyed meeting the younger generation of doughnut makers, who are innovating and inventing new flavours. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. "She was so beautiful," he remembers. He wanted to be with her, but he had no one else to manage the shop. One night, he saw Suganthini on her balcony, and decided it was time to make his move. In 1990, after disappearing for another disastrous trip to Las Vegas, he flew to Washington, D.C., and joined a Buddhist monastery. "Some of them were cousins, uncles, nieces," says Ted. He is working in real estate. Ngoy would often visit Las Vegas for a period of a week, unbeknownst to his wife. "Cambodian people owe them a lot.". I go to borrow. Suganthini was terrified, but she let the stranger stay. 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.". "I came back to L.A. and I didn't know that I was going to create this crazy explosion in the business. A week later, Suganthini wrote back, and the two began a secret correspondence. He sat on the roof of his apartment and played his flute, the music sweeping over the neighborhood. Christy was in the front and made a lot of inroads with the community and built a lot of bridges. 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. Eventually Cambodians owned so many doughnut shops in California that they dominated the market, pushing Winchell's into second place. , some of the dough (see what we did there?) 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. called So I decided to change.". And she was heavily chaperoned. Ted now sees that the same character traits that made him take bold risks in life also made it easy for him to fall prey to gambling. "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. The rise & fall of The Donut King. Then, after falling out with a powerful political rival he feared for his life and fled to the US. "[1] He says his Christian faith ultimately helped him abandon the habit. [6] Gu persuaded him to and, ultimately, he regarded his return as a 'healing experience,' and his ex-wife and children have forgiven him. In most of America there's an average of about one doughnut shop for every 30,000 people - in LA, there's one for every 7,000 people. You just have to see the opportunity and go for it. Those are the wise words of Ted Ngoy. He suggested that Ted hang out in the back and to put Christy in the front. It's a monster in me.". Ted Ngoy was reaping rewards of that success. She divorced him and didnt return to Cambodia. COVID-19 has hit her store and most other shops hard. Peace Lutheran Church The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. I called her when I found out and asked if she knew about Ford and Brown. 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. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. , chronicles Ngoy's thrill-of-victory/agony-of-defeat rollercoaster ride through the American Dream immigration, capitalism, history, hubris, romance, addiction, family and food. Her brother-in-law, Sutsakhan Sak, was chief of police and would become, briefly, the countrys president. So he named his own political party the Free Development Republican Party. Ngoy wrote to her. That's because of a refugee who built up an empire, and became known as the Donut King, only to lose it all. , the Now, he is in real estate development," Gu says. "[10], Whittaker said that "as Asian Americans face increasing racism, its closing message about how immigrant communitiesdefine America has only become more timely."[8]. "New documentary 'The Donut King' follows Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy's journey to multi-million dollar empire", "Review: A Shakespearean SoCal tragedy, 'The Donut King' charts the rise and fall of Ted Ngoy", "Director Alice Gu Wants You to Meet The Donut King", "The Donut King who went full circle - from rags to riches, twice", "Review: The Donut King, a sweet documentary that doesn't tell the hole truth", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Donut_King&oldid=1131760803, This page was last edited on 5 January 2023, at 16:51. 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. But within weeks he was back on a plane to Vegas. "I cry. . "It is the purest form of risk-taking, the distilled anxiety and thrill behind every business decision and bold declaration of love," he writes in his autobiography. 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. 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. One of their sons is a financial consultant; another is a computer-networking technician. LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network. He joined Gamblers Anonymous but was back at the tables in no time. After a civil war broke out and Phnom Penh fell to the communist Khmer. Doughnuts offered an escape from years of welfare dependency. "Don't worry, I will hide under your bed," said Ted. 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. He hosted Dan Quayle and Pete Wilson at his house. He lobbied his contacts in the Republican inner circle, including Senator John McCain, and MFN status was granted permanently in 1996. The details that aren't in the movie are even crazier. But from then on, every store Ngoy and his wife bought or opened they named Christys Doughnuts. Dear reader, we're asking you to help us keep local news available for all. He had no home and no money, and his country had been overrun by a gang of pitiless thugs. I just do it.. You will end up destroying the whole family and no more relationship with the world, just finished. Ngoy bought his first doughnut. Two days after Gu's out-of-the-blue call to DK's Donuts, she was talking to Ngoy in Cambodia. Ngoy became a trainee and took over a Winchell's in Newport Beach. A day before he left, his eldest son said if you have $3.2 million you can buy it. Gu didn't know about any of that before she started developing this project. "I never back down. On Sundays, he attends Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach. Don't die. 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. I never loved you.' Refugees who had sought his advice now avoided him, fearing he would ask for a loan. A new documentary chronicles the fascinating saga of Ted Ngoy, "The Donut King," who made a fortune and then lost it all to a gambling addiction. Their fairy tale romance is so distant, she said, its as if it happened to someone else. That is a lie, he cried, and plunged the blade into his belly. Once, he enjoyed the warmth of family and the respect of his community. BC Donuts 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. Ted kept a low profile until the LA filmmaker Alice Gu got in touch a couple of years ago. Ted now had a new passion - politics. Theres also the moment where Ted revisits his former home in Mission Viejo. Drenched and bleeding, he tiptoed into a hallway. The Ngoys went to Las Vegas for the first time in 1977. Ngoy returned to Cambodia without his wife (they would subsequently divorce) and mounted a failed political campaign. He says his gambling is under control -- though he has no money with which to test this will power. Their youngest son Chris drove them there to pick up the money - but it went horribly wrong. Ngoy managed to escape just as Phnom Penh was falling and brought his wife, Suganthini, and their three children to America in the mid-1970s. Today, at 62, the doughnut king is broke, homeless and dependent on the goodwill of his few remaining friends. When you get to the table, youre so emotional, evil in your body, he said. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news. She ended up threatening to starve herself, saying, "If you won't let me be with him, I'm not going to eat.". All night long Ted would watch people buying coffee and doughnuts, and he realised it was a good business. 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. Las Vegas was the new thing, he said, besides making money and making doughnuts,. The doughnut king landed at LAX with $50 in his pocket. She later discovered that they were among the first to be executed by the Khmer Rouge. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). TED NGOY HAD an unrelenting obsession during his 1975 plane ride from Southeast Asia to Southern California. He would forge her signature on checks and even borrow money from relatives who leased stores from him. Why are we still having these debates? He went on to marry Suganthini Khoeun, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. 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. She would drive there with her youngest son and go from hotel to hotel looking for him. 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. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, and the Cambodian genocide began. "But many of them were not related, they just lived in the same village or heard of my name. If you walk into a doughnut shop in California, the chances are it's owned by a Cambodian family. Gu first needed to find Ted Ngoy but she had no idea how to do it. in Irvine, He would have no more donuts to sell so he could be with his wife for the rest of the day. (Elina Shatkin/LAist). The family were among the many tens of thousands of . The families who followed Ngoys lead learned to run businesses and picked up English. "[1] In 1977, the Ngoys took a trip to Las Vegas where Ted saw Elvis Presley. Ted and Christy are divorced. "It made me homesick," says Ted. I think there's nothing wrong for them to lie to the embassy because everybody needs a chance to survive. When he couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. "It was a different take on a refugee story,". 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.". But one night, he had an idea. Huge numbers of Cambodian refugees were arriving in California. He had gotten his first taste of that passion years earlier. This is going to happen.'". Tao did everything in her power to help Gu. "It went like fire on the hill, so fast," says Ted. Gu says Christy's family then threatened to kill Ted but his mother made a deal with them. I just first hurt my wife, Christy, my children and hurt many, many other people, too, because, when we needed money. I am the flute player, he said in a note passed through the familys maid. 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. They both drank and vowed to be faithful. Ted became their first South East Asian trainee. Ngoy fled with his wife, three young children, two cousins and a nephew to the United States in 1975. So Ngoy snuck into her family's heavily guarded compound and climbed through her bedroom window. Ted Ngoy has become a stranger even to himself. 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 cut his chest sliding under barbed wire. This caused tension in the Ngoy household, being the center of many arguments between Ngoy and his wife. Cambodia was poor and under-developed after years of war. Once back in Orange County, he bet more than ever. They told him Winchells Donuts trained store managers. 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. Cambodia was having its first democratic elections since the war and he wanted to stand for office to help rebuild his country. [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. "This friendly voice picks up the phone, a young voice in that perfectly American accented English. They arranged a meeting for the couple at a relatives house, where Ngoy was expected to formally end their romance. Every evening, he sat by his open window and played the flute. [10] Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. Ngoy had become an example to other Cambodian immigrants, who began to follow his business model for their own entrepreneurial endeavors. 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 remarried and had four more children - the youngest two are still at school. the goes to your local theater. "Growing up, when you look on the screen, there's not a lot of Asian representation. The donut business isnt easy. "Ted, again, is Mr. Nine Lives. While working a second job at a gas station, Ngoy took notice of a busy local donut shop and inquired of its operators about . Over the years, he led thousands of his countrymen into the business. One involves reggae and another focuses on Puerto Rican musicians. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. 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. Mag's Donuts What was it like?I spoke with him and he was in Cambodia. It provided a path for refugees to settle and was a profitable business model. They cried and prayed for the family they had left behind. At a news conference, he dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. 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. Ted negotiated well and got a good commission. 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. They did business on a handshake, he said, and his tenants always paid. Because he was a high roller the casinos put him up in $2,000-a-night suites and offered him VIP tickets to the best shows. If you're enjoying this article, you'll love my daily morning newsletter, How To LA. Doughnut shops were easy to run. Once a paragon in the community, refugees now avoided him for fear of being asked for a loan. They have social media and know how to work it to innovate their parents old donut shops with a worldwide following. But I still win. . Ted Ngoy: Yeah. Aside from what In our very first phone call, he asked if I was American and I told him that I was Chinese American. And of the 5,000 independent doughnut shops in California today, around 80% are still Cambodian, she says. On the porch of a friends mobile home in Long Beach, the Cambodian doughnut king falls asleep each night shivering. I believed him a thousand times, she said. "After cry, go back gambling," he told one interviewer. As word of Ted's success spread, Cambodian immigrants started seeking him out when they arrived in Southern California. The film flashes back to the horror of life in 1970s Cambodia, a tragic offshoot of the Vietnam war that eliminated thousands of lives. I'm not famous. [4], Despite the wealth he had amassed and his importance within his community, Ngoy felt dissatisfied, remarking that he had "No political life, no religious life, just work, work. Ted did try to curb his habit. [1], In 2013, he was living in Phnom Penh working in real estate. Even in gambling. Theres so much competition. Suganthini became the smiling face behind the counter, even though she hardly spoke any English. "And she says, 'Because Cambodian people make them.'". Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. When people know about the bad reputation, people are not going to vote for me. Also Jerry Brown, who weve seen in California as our beacon of hope and morality, in 1975 was actually the opposite. A map of Christys Donuts, Winchells and Dunkin Donuts across California during the height of Ted Ngoys entrepreneurship in the 1970s through the 1990s. "What happens if I decide to jump into your room?" [5] She reached out to Ngoy and other Cambodian families who ran donut shops, and within six weeks began principal photography. Everybody went to the gold mine, Ngoy said. 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. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit Then he would return to Vegas in an attempt to win back what he had lost. [8], After Cambodia's establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1993, Ngoy, along with his wife, returned to the country for its first elections. But while she was gone Ted had an affair. 50? Ngoys wife hated his gambling. [4], Ngoy secured work as a janitor with Peace Lutheran Church in Tustin, California. 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. Few foods are as universally adored as fried dough. He also sponsored more than 100 Cambodian refugee families and established a path of financial opportunity for them in America. Designers Andrew Hem and Charlie Le were awarded a SWSW Film special jury recognition for their poster design of The Donut King in 2020. in Pasadena, He was bleeding out and her parents were like, 'Oh, God. Ted Ngoy By 1985, 10 years after arriving in the US as refugees, Ted and Christy were millionaires, owning around 60 doughnut shops. The Ngoys decided to keep uniformity amongst their shops, naming subsequent acquisitions Christy's. In doing the research and finding that it was President [Gerald] Ford who issued the executive order to receive the refugees, a Republican president that was a huge surprise to me given that during the time that we were making this film we were hearing Donald Trumps rhetoric. "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.". 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