I have to go to school.". He subsists on small handouts from friends. DK's Donuts [6][3], Ngoy bought additional doughnut shops in Orange County. One night in a pouring rain, Ngoy scaled a coconut tree beside the wall surrounding her home. He found a second job at a gas station. 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. I'm no good. Las Vegas was the new thing, he said, besides making money and making doughnuts,. He wrapped the note around a stone, and threw it down. Suganthini became the smiling face behind the counter, even though she hardly spoke any English. Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. Cambodian Americans control an estimated 80 percent of the donut market in California thanks largely to one man- Ted Ngoy, otherwise known as The Donut King. "Growing up, when you look on the screen, there's not a lot of Asian representation. Chuong Lee, who has run DK's Donuts since 1988, is officially retired although she occasionally helps out at the shop. [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. I wanted to tell this story in a way that was inspirational and optimistic. The stranger who crept into her room more than 35 years ago is a stranger again. "I did not have time to take care of business, so business was going down. Also, significantly for Ngoy, other Cambodian refugees and their children donuts. COVID-19 has hit her store and most other shops hard. In 1993 Ted and Christy moved back to Cambodia. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). Monks cannot help me, he said. They took American names. He had lost the respect of his family and community. "She was powerful, like your royal princess," says Ted. He was very surprised that anybody would find him and want to tell his stories. For the next 45 days, he lived in her room. "We were happy - until the gambling came to wreck my life. "Ted, again, is Mr. Nine Lives. Ted had met Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., [Richard] Nixon. At the weekend the oldest children, Chet and Savy, then nine and eight, helped out by pouring coffee, packing doughnuts and folding boxes. "But many of them were not related, they just lived in the same village or heard of my name. Eventually Cambodians owned so many doughnut shops in California that they dominated the market, pushing Winchell's into second place. "They're a good company and I owe them gratitude," Ted says. The couple had flash cars, bought a million-dollar mansion with a pool and an elevator, and went on holidays abroad. 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. Los Angeles Times Phnom Penh Post The world moves so quickly now, but I do believe that it is still real and it is still possible. Ted's story is told in a new documentary. He moved from church to church, until an elderly Cambodian woman allowed him to live on the covered porch of her mobile home. He had $50,000 riding on many Sundays. "Before I'd never gambled, but like all the compulsive gamblers in the world, first you throw in a couple of bucks, $10, $20. Christys Doughnuts in La Habra never did great business. You will end up destroying the whole family and no more relationship with the world, just finished. On Sundays he would go to the church where her son was the pastor and join in Bible studies. Ted Ngoy was born in Sisophon, Cambodia. Ted wrote one day. "Using money to provide for others is a feeling as powerful as any drug," he later wrote. The gambling is sad, the saddest part of my life.". The Ngoys decided to keep uniformity amongst their shops, naming subsequent acquisitions Christy's. The second time Ted came back to California, Chet took all this time off of work, took him to his timeshare in Oceanside and drove his dad around all over Southern California. Just knowing that my great uncle Ted and the story of my parents and hearing Alice say, 'I want to really dig deep on a Cambodian donut shop,' I was like, 'Wow, this is real. He joined Gamblers Anonymous but was back at the tables in no time. When he lost their money he would just sign over the shop to them - without telling Christy, whose signature he forged. All the latest on Orange County from Orange County. Along with thousands of other Cambodian refugees, the Ngoys ended up at Camp Pendleton. On Sundays, he attends Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach. Ted became deeply religious. According to Gu, Christy's family brought her into the room and Ted started reciting his speech. They were moving their capital and know-how into liquor stores, markets and fast-food restaurants. 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. One night, he. And that's what he did. I cry. Long hours. I ended up not sharing that donut. He co-signed loans for supplies and equipment. Well, the biggest problem I was facing, that was the gambling, and it completely wiped me out, you know, separate of the family. By 1985, 10 years after arriving in the US as refugees, Ted and Christy were millionaires, owning around 60 doughnut shops. And he saw an opportunity. Soldiers and dogs guarded the mansion. He also sponsored more than 100 Cambodian refugee families and established a path of financial opportunity for them in America. The film flashes back to the horror of life in 1970s Cambodia, a tragic offshoot of the Vietnam war that eliminated thousands of lives. "[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. 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. 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. 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. He sat on the roof of his apartment and played his flute, the music sweeping over the neighborhood. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. Gu says Christy's family then threatened to kill Ted but his mother made a deal with them. This is going to happen.'". 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 communicates with them almost every day. After completing the company's training program, they gave him the keys to a store in Newport Beach. 2023 BBC. He had to guess which room was hers. He lobbied his contacts in the Republican inner circle, including Senator John McCain, and MFN status was granted permanently in 1996. [3] Ngoy worked at various jobs, including as a travel agent and tour guide, before joining the military in 1970. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, and the Cambodian genocide began. TED NGOY HAD an unrelenting obsession during his 1975 plane ride from Southeast Asia to Southern California. What is Ted up to in Cambodia nowadays?Ted is doing well. It was on the market. Over four years nearly two million Cambodians were either executed, or died of starvation, disease and overwork. The Donut King was directed by Alice Gu, and is her first feature film. Theyre savvy, young, hip. [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. "It's a crazy story, but it's true," says Ted, now 78. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. He also apologised to many of those he hurt. 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. She thought Ted was joking, but he was serious. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot. But he admits he was also aware that conquering Suganthini's heart held out the promise of a better life. He shaved his head and spent three months barefoot in Thailand, coming back emaciated and a changed man - or so he thought. It was helping his community and it was a bit of a cautionary tale.". Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy; 1942) is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of doughnut shops in California. Working all hours, Ted and Christy knew very little about what was happening back home in Cambodia, but what they heard was bad. And I feel so much hurt. He was, however, invited to become a government adviser on commerce and agriculture. She belonged to a high ranking officer, you know like a princess in Cambodia, very rich and very powerful family. He said that we didnt have room for these refugees here. . Ted did try to curb his habit. But then one of Suganthini's servants appeared at his door with a reply. , chronicles Ngoy's thrill-of-victory/agony-of-defeat rollercoaster ride through the American Dream immigration, capitalism, history, hubris, romance, addiction, family and food. 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. The family worked 12 to 17 hours a day, with all hands on deck. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Key grant funding to help O.C. The United States alone is home to more than 25,000 donut shops and they produce more than 10 billion donuts each year. He began placing bets with Cambodian bookies on football and basketball games. "I never back down. Suganthinis parents hoped she would marry well. It was really wonderful. He remarried and had four more children - the youngest two are still at school. But he was more than well-off; he was respected. In the early 1990s, it was reported that California had 2,400 Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. It smelled delicious and when he first tasted one it reminded him of something from home - a fried pastry, also circular, called nom kong. And he has a new goal. Ted Ngoy in The Donut King documentary. But Cambodians were leaving the business, tired of working 17-hour days and squeezing a 13-cent profit from every 65-cent doughnut. 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