They went to Europe twice. He became tired running doughnut shops on his own and decided to train and lease shops to his relatives and employ Cambodian refugees. Tao did everything in her power to help Gu. 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. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted,. He believed he could show others the path to wealth and opportunity. In 1975, Ngoy fled the Khmer Rouge with his wife and three . But from then on, every store Ngoy and his wife bought or opened they named Christys Doughnuts. It smelled delicious and when he first tasted one it reminded him of something from home - a fried pastry, also circular, called nom kong. Channy also wholesales doughnuts to other minimarts. He wrapped the note around a stone, and threw it down. In 1967, his mother sent him to study in Phnom Penh, the capital. Filmmaker Alice Gu (left) poses with Mayly Tao outside DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. Over the years, he says he sponsored more than 100 Cambodian families that wanted to come to the U.S. Gu realized his story was also an epic romance. Before sunrise, they would climb back into her room. Cambodia was planning its first elections in 1993, and well-to-do emigres from California were returning to run for office. 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. Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. When Christy's parents eventually discovered the ruse, they were furious. "The more you chase, the more it's gone," he says in a new documentary about his rise and fall, called The Donut King. Ted negotiated well and got a good commission. And he saw an opportunity. goes to your local theater. He says his gambling is under control -- though he has no money with which to test this will power. 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. He is nicknamed the "Donut King. Ted worked as the church janitor but he soon realised earning $500 a month wouldn't be enough to support his family. Distraught, she took an overdose of sleeping pills and fell into a coma. They took American names. I just do it.. Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. They did business on a handshake, he said, and his tenants always paid. 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. He wrote a note, telling her that he lived in the building opposite and was the flute player. When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, they knew they couldn't go home. Theres also the moment where Ted revisits his former home in Mission Viejo. He had hidden a dagger and he took it out and stabbed himself three times. "It's a devil, it's a monster. He left behind his new wife and their two children, and what he had seen as his last chance at redemption. Over the years, he led thousands of his countrymen into the business. Where are they now?. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. But the situation at home was increasingly dangerous and on his last trip, in April 1975, the capital fell. Ted's story is told in a new documentary. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. Suganthinis parents kept her locked in her room for days. Her parents wanted nothing to do with him. He said that we didnt have room for these refugees here. I thought it was so profound that this was the very same community that just a couple of decades earlier were making fun of somebody who worked at the counter and had an accent. But with great riches come great temptations. "It's impossible to explain that money had nothing to do with it. Los Angeles Times He enjoyed meeting the younger generation of doughnut makers, who are innovating and inventing new flavours. I wanted to tell this story in a way that was inspirational and optimistic. Christy always forgave him, but word got around that Ted could no longer be trusted. The donut business isnt easy. 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. "I did not have time to take care of business, so business was going down. The other discovery for me was what I called Donut Generation 2.0, the kids who go to take over the parents mom and pop shops. He was raised by his mother, who was from Shantou, Guangdong, and who only spoke Chinese. Some of his relationships didnt end well. "It made me homesick," says Ted. The whole community banded together and they all agreed to sell him out of donuts every morning by 9 a.m. Ted Ngoy: Yeah. Ted and a lot of the Asians who came aligned themselves with the Republican party. He has found his way to be wealthy again. He was born Bun Tek Ngoy. 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. Ngoy would often visit Las Vegas for a period of a week, unbeknownst to his wife. The couple and their three toddlers arrived penniless at Camp Pendleton, part of the first wave of Cambodian refugees. "We were happy - until the gambling came to wreck my life. 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. When there was an overrun of pink doughnut boxes Ted bought them cut-price, and the pink boxes became his trademark. Instead, she told him about a training programme run by the doughnut chain, Winchell's. He had $50,000 riding on many Sundays. Then he flew to a monastery in the Thai countryside. Designers Andrew Hem and Charlie Le were awarded a SWSW Film special jury recognition for their poster design of The Donut King in 2020. Gu says Christy's family then threatened to kill Ted but his mother made a deal with them. 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. Ted soon got a job working at Winchell's, which was then the dominant donut chain on the West Coast. Theres this portion in the film that goes into Ted and his ex-wife Christys experiences in Orange County during the 70s. By the mid-1980s, he was a millionaire. 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. What you've done is incredible.' By 1976, Ted had saved up enough money to buy his own shop, which he named Christy's. "But many of them were not related, they just lived in the same village or heard of my name. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news. in Pasadena, 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. youths avoid juvenile hall comes to an end, As it approaches its first decade, the Frida Cinema abides, Shake Shack gets ready to shake things up in Orange County, Santa Anas Electric City Butcher moves online, Brews&Bites beachside beer festival comes to the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, 13 couples say I do on Valentines Day weekend at the Anaheim Marketplace, Broadway Divas serve off-Broadway realness at Segerstrom, Dine your heart out this Valentines Day with special menus throughout Orange County, 43rd annual Orange County Black History Parade & Unity Fair a source of pride in Anaheim. Ted Ngoy was born in Sisophon, Cambodia. "What happens if I decide to jump into your room?" He turned down a job as a security guard because it required standing for eight hours. He also figured that as a prominent politician, he would be forced to control his gambling habit. He wanted to buy more, but he was exhausted running the five he owned. Suganthinis father ran out from hiding and called an ambulance. Ngoys wife hated his gambling. Well, the biggest problem I was facing, that was the gambling, and it completely wiped me out, you know, separate of the family. Streaming now on PBS. Broke, Ted and Christy returned to Cambodia. "[10], Whittaker said that "as Asian Americans face increasing racism, its closing message about how immigrant communitiesdefine America has only become more timely."[8]. One of Ngoy's first jobs in the US was as a service station attendant. 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. Okay, you guys can' It was a whole Romeo and Juliet story," Gu says. Ngoy had become an example to other Cambodian immigrants, who began to follow his business model for their own entrepreneurial endeavors. and ", "I was like, 'What on earth makes this Cambodian? It's something Ted feels a bit bad about. "After cry, go back gambling," he told one interviewer. But one night, he had an idea. I told them I'm very sorry 1,000 times. Through doughnuts, many Cambodians stepped out of isolation and into the American mainstream. He had gotten his first taste of that passion years earlier. No days off. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. One night under a full moon, they knelt and prayed. He shaved his head and spent three months barefoot in Thailand, coming back emaciated and a changed man - or so he thought. He woke her up and she was about to scream for help, when she realised it was her classmate. 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. Ted remembers hiding from her behind the slot machines. 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. The family members worked 17 hours a day and saved for a year. And she was heavily chaperoned. Near the station was a doughnut shop. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. He is wealthy again. In return, he played their tables and lost thousands of dollars. Perpetually in need of cash, he'd ask the people running his donut shops for loans. "'You want to tell my story? Ted did try to curb his habit. They both drank and vowed to be faithful. [5] She reached out to Ngoy and other Cambodian families who ran donut shops, and within six weeks began principal photography. I believed him a thousand times, she said. He is working in real estate. The family were among the many tens of thousands of . Mag's Donuts BC Donuts "[1] He says his Christian faith ultimately helped him abandon the habit. "You can't find any prettier woman besides her.". I ate the whole thing. They cried and prayed for the family they had left behind. One night, he saw Suganthini on her balcony, and decided it was time to make his move. 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. Suganthinis parents hoped she would marry well. Within a decade, he had become a multimillionaire with a lakeside mansion . (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). The United States alone is home to more than 25,000 donut shops and they produce more than 10 billion donuts each year. I go to borrow. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit [1], That's why I want to tell the world, "Do not gamble." He says he hid in her room for 45 days until he was discovered. "He's like, 'You know what? In the end, filming the documentary was a healing experience for Ted. [10] Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. And he said he saw her heart break before his very eyes. Volcanic tiki drinks. But the name was misleading. Everybody went to the gold mine, Ngoy said. She was lucky that Mayly Tao, whose mom, Chuong Lee, owns the shop, answered the phone. Once, he enjoyed the warmth of family and the respect of his community. Where Im going, I dont know. When they were released, the cash was gone. buy a ticket When he was working in the donut shop, he went to his sponsor and said he was having a hard time. He began placing bets with Cambodian bookies on football and basketball games. Ted Ngoy: Well, when I was in a high school in a French school, my wife's Suganthini. Director Alice Gu makes her film debut with The Donut King, following the life of Ted Ngoy. When he lost he would lash out, smashing doors, breaking furniture and frightening the children. Suganthini was terrified, but she let the stranger stay. Nearly every independent donut shop in every Southern California mini-mall hides a story and many of them start with an unlikely impresario, a Cambodian refugee named Ted Ngoy. Tell us about your wife. The past I cannot change, but I learned the heavy way. A child of immigrants herself, she had become curious why Californian doughnut shops were so often run by Cambodians, and why there were so many of them. The families who followed Ngoys lead learned to run businesses and picked up English. That's a disaster," he says. All night long Ted would watch people buying coffee and doughnuts, and he realised it was a good business. About 30 Christys Doughnuts were still in operation, as were hundreds of other Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. Suganthini replied, "Well be careful, if you don't jump into my room, you'll jump into my mum's room.". No political life, no religious life, just work, work, he said. The film follows an immigrant tale of the American dream through Bun Tek Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee whose charmed life is full of war, romance, entrepreneurship, racism and a caution about greed. Bun Tek Ngoy touched down at Camp Pendleton on a military plane in May of 1975 with his wife and three young children. 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, his wife and family pick up the story and walk us through their unbelievable experience, flying to a . 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. Ted resides in Cambodia where he splits his time between Phnom Pen and Kep, a province in Southern Cambodia that's famous for its crab fishing industry. Suganthini and her mother heard the music. 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. "Before I'd never gambled, but like all the compulsive gamblers in the world, first you throw in a couple of bucks, $10, $20. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot. ", Alice Gu's documentary, 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 (produced by Maryam Maruf), Ted Ngoy's autobiography is called The Donut King: the rags to riches story of a poor immigrant that changed the world. He credits his Christian faith with finally curing his gambling addiction, although he confesses he liked to bet on football games until last year. Christy Ngoy now owns a Peruvian restaurant in Irvine. They would speed through Phnom Penh on his motorcycle, the couple recalled. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. On the porch of a friends mobile home in Long Beach, the Cambodian doughnut king falls asleep each night shivering. "[1], Ted Ngoy was born in the Cambodian village of Sisophon near the country's border with Thailand. So I decided to change.". [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. One night, he. Im Chinese American. At the end, I win. "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.". He had no home and no money, and his country had been overrun by a gang of pitiless thugs. 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. He slept under the bed and hid when the maids came to clean. "She was so beautiful," he remembers. War erupted in 1970. When he couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. Once, he was a poor boy who carried away one of Cambodias wealthiest daughters. Then he pulled a knife. called Over the years, Ted and Christy sponsored more than 100 families, often hosting them before setting them up with homes, loans, and doughnut shops. He began to disappear off to Las Vegas for days, losing $5,000, $7,000 a game, and neglecting his family and his doughnut empire. Why would anybody be interested in my story?' It actually made national, if not international, news about the kindness of these people in Orange County. 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. Im also, again, the daughter of Chinese American immigrants and my dad was a big Republican party supporter. During the week they went to school, where sometimes they were so hungry they stole snacks from other kids' lunchboxes. Ngoy's gambling had progressed from the card tables to placing bets on sports games with Cambodian bookies. In 1985, he and Suganthini became U.S. citizens. His gesture went unreciprocated for days. Also, significantly for Ngoy, other Cambodian refugees and their children donuts. And she said she knew a lot of people in her parents generation who are lifelong Republicans and thats why they hate the Democratic party. He wanted to be with her, but he had no one else to manage the shop. On Sundays, he attends Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach. She said he would be throwing his money away. This tastes like any other glazed donut,'" Gu says. "That's why I want to tell the world, 'Do not gamble.' When time goes by it gets into your blood and you just cannot get it out," says Ted. On Sundays he would go to the church where her son was the pastor and join in Bible studies. Seasonal Halloween donuts at DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. His sponsor told him people will have their prejudices but they mean well. 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. And then we opened second store in Fullerton, and when they opened, I also train people and my wage, Christi, also . Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. What new information did you learn in the making of the film?There was a lot that was new to me. But he was more than well-off; he was respected. 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. To understand the politics, the Republican party at the time was a very anticommunist party. Long hours. He also apologised to many of those he hurt. He suggested that Ted hang out in the back and to put Christy in the front. Upon his return to Orange County, Ngoy began gambling harder than ever stating "Monks cannot help me, Buddha cannot help me. Ted now had a new passion - politics. He cut his chest sliding under barbed wire. 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. That phrase Donut King is already so eye-catching right off the bat. "I became a very, very bad man and borrowed money here and there," he says. Cambodia was having its first democratic elections since the war and he wanted to stand for office to help rebuild his country. Alice found it hard to persuade Ted to return to California for filming. Your Guide To Everything Boozy You Can Order, A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth. When people know about the bad reputation, people are not going to vote for me. An immigrant story unlike any other, Alice Gu's "The Donut King" follows the twisty, unexpected journey of Cambodia refugee Ted Ngoy, who arrived in California in the 1970s and, through a. The first few times he and Christy visited, on early family holidays, everything went well: they watched a magic show, they saw Elvis perform. She would drive there with her youngest son and go from hotel to hotel looking for him. The Donut King is a 2020 American documentary film which tells the life story of California donut shop owner Ted Ngoy. 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"Growing up, when you look on the screen, there's not a lot of Asian representation. He bought donut shop after donut shop, leasing them to other Cambodian immigrants, who ran the stores with their families, and taking a monthly cut of each store's profits. Never give up. He would forge her signature on checks and even borrow money from relatives who leased stores from him. L.A. became the country's epicenter of donut culture when Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian immigrant, arrived in California during the 1970s. Ted encouraged others to do the same. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? [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 would forgive him when he promised to stop, and he would -- for a while. His party did poorly in the 1993 and 1998 parliamentary elections, but Prime Minister Hun Sen made him an advisor on commerce and agriculture. 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. But he admits he was also aware that conquering Suganthini's heart held out the promise of a better life. "Don't worry, I will hide under your bed," said Ted. He had burned a lot of bridges and at the time his children hardly spoke to him. It was hurtful. 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. Despite his success, he said, he felt unhappy and isolated. He helped them apply for permits. "I came back to L.A. and I didn't know that I was going to create this crazy explosion in the business. Since many of them had gotten their start in the business and the United States thanks to Ngoy, they were happy to help. Theyre savvy, young, hip. Doughnut shops were easy to run. According to Gu, Christy's family brought her into the room and Ted started reciting his speech. Ted managed to escape on the last flight out of Phnom Penh but Suganthini's parents were left behind. 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. Gu ( left ) poses with Mayly Tao, whose mom, Chuong Lee, owns the.. Let the stranger stay on the screen, there 's not a lot was! Changed man - or so he thought no friends, could not talk to boys and was forbidden leave... Aware that conquering Suganthini 's parents were left behind saved up enough money to buy his own shop, the... And basketball games back gambling, '' he told one interviewer from her behind the slot machines were not,! Would forgive him when he promised to stop, and decided to train and lease shops to his relatives employ. 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