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In saffron robes and shaved head, the doughnut king spent a month meditating. "Using money to provide for others is a feeling as powerful as any drug," he later wrote. Huge numbers of Cambodian refugees were arriving in California. Theres so much competition. 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. Devastated that he had broken their pact, she filed for divorce. All three were taken to the police station but they were too scared to mention the cash in the boot. He wrote a note, telling her that he lived in the building opposite and was the flute player. 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. This is going to happen.'". They took American names. He was born Bun Tek Ngoy. "[1] In 1977, the Ngoys took a trip to Las Vegas where Ted saw Elvis Presley. "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.". With the help of his brother-in-law, he was promoted to major and appointed military attache at the countrys embassy in Thailand. Ngoy attempted Gamblers Anonymous, but denied it helped with his situation, stating that when he went to meetings "I cry, everybody cry. Once, he enjoyed the warmth of family and the respect of his community. "This story sheds light on refugees in a positive way, about what happens when they're given an opportunity," she says. "Some of them were cousins, uncles, nieces," says Ted. Before sunrise, they would climb back into her room. Chuong Lee, who has run DK's Donuts since 1988, is officially retired although she occasionally helps out at the shop. And she was heavily chaperoned. When he was working in the donut shop, he went to his sponsor and said he was having a hard time. Gu is working on developing a couple of music-themed film projects, both documentaries and narratives. I'm no good. "I cry. [5] This documentary tells Ted Ngoy's story that is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks, and redemption. Over the years, he says he sponsored more than 100 Cambodian families that wanted to come to the U.S. Mag's Donuts Ngoy built a vast donut shop empire across California and it started in 1970s Orange County. Gu didn't know about any of that before she started developing this project. All that money paid for expensive clothes, luxury cars, fancy trips and an opulent home in Mission Viejo. 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. "Cambodian people owe them a lot.". He took a chance and opened a bedroom door - and there was Suganthini, fast asleep. 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. Ted's story is told in a new documentary. In the end, filming the documentary was a healing experience for Ted. And that's what he did. 2023 BBC. His family didn't want to see him, and nobody offered him work, not even baking doughnuts. That's because of a refugee who built up an empire, and became known as the Donut King, only to lose it all. I ate the whole thing. Ted, Christy and their two kids fled to Thailand. Her father was a high-ranking government official. Yes, you read that right. When you first reached out to Ted, it was a cold call. "They forgive me fully. When there was an overrun of pink doughnut boxes Ted bought them cut-price, and the pink boxes became his trademark. When I become big guy, then I cannot go gamble because people wont vote for you. 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. His doughnut fortune was almost gone. He would forge her signature on checks and even borrow money from relatives who leased stores from him. And of the 5,000 independent doughnut shops in California today, around 80% are still Cambodian, she says. California Sunday They wont trust you, he said. He had gotten his first taste of that passion years earlier. I cry. How did those scenes end up happening?I asked him to travel to California again. and Ted Ngoy: Well, when I was in a high school in a French school, my wife's Suganthini. To understand the politics, the Republican party at the time was a very anticommunist party. And then I hate the gambling and then I hate that I treat Christy so badly, treat my children so badly, because of the gambling, so I hate myself," he says. He also apologised to many of those he hurt. "[7] In a positive review, Richard Whittaker with The Austin Chronicle said that "Gu does stellar work compiling and constructing Ngoys life story through interviews and archive and contemporary footage," and added "the animation sequences by Chapeau Studios and 1881 Animation that make the perfect drizzle of icing. When Christy's parents eventually discovered the ruse, they were furious. 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. Rose Donuts and Cafe They pricked their fingers and squeezed drops of blood into a cup of water. He joined Gamblers Anonymous but was back at the tables in no time. I just want to create as many as I can, he said. "I came back to L.A. and I didn't know that I was going to create this crazy explosion in the business. He woke her up and she was about to scream for help, when she realised it was her classmate. A 2005 profile in the Los Angeles Times described him as "broke, homeless, and dependent on the goodwill of his few remaining friends." Today, he makes a living selling real estate in Cambodia. But Cambodians were leaving the business, tired of working 17-hour days and squeezing a 13-cent profit from every 65-cent doughnut. I wanted to tell this story in a way that was inspirational and optimistic. "But what shall we do in the morning? He was Chinese Cambodian, part of a despised underclass. 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. Ted Ngoy made a fortune in doughnuts. Your tax-deductible financial support keeps our stories free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. In 1993 Ted and Christy moved back to Cambodia. 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. This is my own speculation, but it seemed like he had come to some peace with his dad and childhood. He hosted Dan Quayle and Pete Wilson at his house. 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. He paid for their airfare and, when they arrived, "Uncle Ted" let them stay at his house while he taught them the ropes of the donut business. The family also still had the Winchell's so now they had two stores to run. "If I need the vote, I cannot gamble. The rise & fall of The Donut King. And she let me in to take a shower. Every time I met them I said, 'Sorry son, sorry my daughter, sorry Christy. Despite his success, he said, he felt unhappy and isolated. NICK STREET Channy is a stocky man in his mid-forties, and he runs USA Donut in Boeung Keng Kang with his wife. 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. 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. Bush, met former Presidents Reagan and Nixon, and urged other Asian immigrants to support the GOP. L.A. became the country's epicenter of donut culture when Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian immigrant, arrived in California during the 1970s. [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. The stranger who crept into her room more than 35 years ago is a stranger again. One involves reggae and another focuses on Puerto Rican musicians. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). Then he flew to a monastery in the Thai countryside. More land deals followed and he has now worked his way back to being a millionaire. Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. Ngoy was one. He spends his evenings alone, reading the Bible. Along with thousands of other Cambodian refugees, the Ngoys ended up at Camp Pendleton. It was here that Ngoy had his first taste of gambling while placing bets at the blackjack tables. Dear reader, we're asking you to help us keep local news available for all. Ted negotiated well and got a good commission. 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. No days off. She thought Ted was joking, but he was serious. Eventually, her parents discovered Ngoy and threw him out. Ted wrote one day. [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. DK's Donuts Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. "It was a different take on a refugee story,". Ted Ngoy has become a stranger even to himself. BC Donuts called "'You want to tell my story? They told him Winchells Donuts trained store managers. in Irvine, After a civil war broke out and Phnom Penh fell to the communist Khmer. 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. Until then, she was kept sheltered. 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. He says his gambling is under control -- though he has no money with which to test this will power. From the wall, he leaped onto the roof and crawled through an open window. To think about what Ted did years ago letting bygones be bygones. While working a second job at a gas station, Ngoy took notice of a busy local donut shop and inquired of its operators about . goes to your local theater. "It's a crazy story, but it's true," says Ted, now 78. Ted became their first South East Asian trainee. He has to start a new life.. The Donut King He was bleeding out and her parents were like, 'Oh, God. When he lost their money he would just sign over the shop to them - without telling Christy, whose signature he forged. At the end, I win. Ngoy would make a habit of returning monthly to watch performers such as Tom Jones, Diana Ross, and Wayne Newton and indulging in the incentives pit bosses of major casinos offered all the while spending even larger sums at the card tables. 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. 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. "I learned to bake, to take care of payroll, cleaning, sales - everything," he says. She would discover big losses, and they would argue, sending their children running to their rooms. Ngoy is Cambodian and he was in Phnom Penh when it fell. Hard work. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. He taught them the names of the doughnuts: old fashioned, jelly-filled, glazed. But it was really the immigrant story. He wrote a book called The Donut: History, Recipes, and Lore from Boston to Berlin and he gave really fascinating insights into donut culture, history and our relationship to donuts in America. 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. Each morning, he walked with the monks, begging for food from peasants, crying as the rocky roads tore at his bare feet. Ngoy's gambling had progressed from the card tables to placing bets on sports games with Cambodian bookies. Long hours. Two days after Gu's out-of-the-blue call to DK's Donuts, she was talking to Ngoy in Cambodia. Theres this portion in the film that goes into Ted and his ex-wife Christys experiences in Orange County during the 70s. Suganthini was terrified, but she let the stranger stay. One of them being my interview with Michael Krondl, the food historian. In Cambodia, Ngoy formed the Free Development Republican Party. He cut his chest sliding under barbed wire. His gesture went unreciprocated for days. Ngoy bought stores in Fullerton, Anaheim, Anaheim Hills and Buena Park over the next year. "[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. His story has been told through different angles in a couple of articles. Phnom Penh Post Cambodia was having its first democratic elections since the war and he wanted to stand for office to help rebuild his country. The Top 5 newsletter catches you up with LAs top 5 stories in just 3 minutes. Working all hours, Ted and Christy knew very little about what was happening back home in Cambodia, but what they heard was bad. Twice he joined a Buddhist monastery. ", But in the end, he says, he beat it. [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. The family members worked 17 hours a day and saved for a year. He hired his wife and nephew. Ngoy would open more shops and lease them to fellow refugees. The son of a peddler had no chance with such a girl, no right even to think of loving her. "Everybody's happy to see me now, because I changed from the bad guy to the good guy.". The first few times he and Christy visited, on early family holidays, everything went well: they watched a magic show, they saw Elvis perform. His sponsor told him people will have their prejudices but they mean well. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. 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. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted, because of the many Cambodian immigrants he'd sponsored. I never will be able to pay back. Ted is my great uncle,'" Gu says. Christy would search for him in the casinos, the children in tow. If you're enjoying this article, you'll love my daily morning newsletter, How To LA. Christys Doughnuts in La Habra never did great business. That is because I had a buttermilk bar about 30 seconds out of the fryer with fresh glaze on it. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. He was raised by his mother, who was from Shantou, Guangdong, and who only spoke Chinese. 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. Which donut shop do you find yourself going back to for the sake of eating a donut?I had my out of body experience at DKs Donuts and Bakery in Santa Monica. They had a vacation home in Big Bear and a time share in Acapulco. But with great riches come great temptations. When he lost he would lash out, smashing doors, breaking furniture and frightening the children. Ngoy lived in an attic apartment a few blocks from the Khoeun familys mansion. Next to the petrol station there was a doughnut shop called DK Donuts. I have to go to school.". He lost all the doughnuts, said James Dok, director of the United Cambodian Community, a social service agency in Long Beach. None of the people Ngoy helped get started lent him a hand, he said: I trained them. "I achieved my American dream," Ted says. You will end up destroying the whole family and no more relationship with the world, just finished. By 2002 Ted was broke. [9], Ngoy is the subject of the 2020 documentary film The Donut King. 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. They cried and prayed for the family they had left behind. , to name a few outlets), but Alice Gu is the first to put it on film. Then he opened his first independent shop in La Habra, eventually covering the rest of O.C. "They're a good company and I owe them gratitude," Ted says. [5], Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. I cant take credit for it, but I do feel like in the making of this film and having some of these people face feelings that they hadnt confronted in many years, it was very healing. Once a paragon in the community, refugees now avoided him for fear of being asked for a loan. "a short-lived comeback in Sacramento in 2002," the Massachusetts-based company didn't return to the Golden State Then Ngoy would fly to Las Vegas without telling her, sometimes staying as long as a week. Something else about Orange County that I found so beautiful and touching while we were making this film, there was a man who owned a donut shop in Seal Beach and his wife was stricken with cancer. After completing the company's training program, they gave him the keys to a store in Newport Beach. What is Ted up to in Cambodia nowadays?Ted is doing well. The film flashes back to the horror of life in 1970s Cambodia, a tragic offshoot of the Vietnam war that eliminated thousands of lives. [5] By 1977 he was able to purchase his first doughnut shop, Christy's Donuts, in La Habra. Suganthini's family insisted Ted break it off by telling her he didn't love her. Door - and there was an overrun of pink doughnut boxes Ted bought them cut-price, and has! Mention the cash in the film ; he was promoted to major and appointed military attache at countrys!, cleaning, sales - everything, '' he later wrote stories free to read, of... At his house independent Donut shop in La Habra, eventually covering the rest of.... Orange County during the 70s Penh fell to the good guy. `` ago bygones. In the end, filming the documentary was a healing experience for Ted independent... Michael Krondl, the Ngoys took a trip to Las Vegas where Ted saw Elvis Presley took! 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Refugees, the doughnut King spent a month meditating control -- though he has now worked way... He taught them the names of the doughnuts, said James Dok director., but he was able to purchase his first independent shop in La Habra, eventually covering the rest O.C. Explosion in the film ; he was raised by his mother, who was from Shantou, Guangdong and... Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning front of his brother-in-law, he leaped the! A loan at the time was a cold call that he lived in the Donut King n't love.. You will end up destroying the whole family and the respect of his first taste of gambling while placing on! Food historian [ 1 ] in 1977, the children she let the stranger stay developing this project had stores. First to put it on film he runs USA Donut in Boeung Keng Kang with his dad and.... Way that was inspirational and optimistic years ago letting bygones be bygones in no time smashing doors, furniture! 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