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. At the height of his success in the US he had been an ardent Republican, and an enthusiastic fundraiser for the party. When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. Alongside doughnuts, they sell imported American goods - everything from Pop-Tarts to Starbucks Frappucinos. "I had true love for her.". The Donut King is a 2020 American documentary film which tells the life story of California donut shop owner Ted Ngoy. I cry. Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. California Sunday Ngoy joined the army. Despite his success, he said, he felt unhappy and isolated. Their youngest son Chris drove them there to pick up the money - but it went horribly wrong. 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. 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." . , some of the dough (see what we did there?) One day in 2018, she cold-called DK's Donuts War erupted in 1970. They had lost their beautiful home and their chain of shops, but still had enough money to live comfortably. A week later, Suganthini wrote back, and the two began a secret correspondence. When the couple recovered, her parents finally allowed them to marry. Ted encouraged others to do the same. During the week they went to school, where sometimes they were so hungry they stole snacks from other kids' lunchboxes. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot. She belonged to a high ranking officer, you know like a princess in Cambodia, very rich and very powerful family. People made fun of his accent. Over the years, he led thousands of his countrymen into the business. Christy would search for him in the casinos, the children in tow. We had an instant connection and it felt like we were meant to be doing this story together. Ngoy became a trainee and took over a Winchell's in Newport Beach. To make sure he went through with it, they insisted on hiding behind a curtain while he said his spiel. He helped them apply for permits. Christy Ngoy now owns a Peruvian restaurant in Irvine. Don't die. [5] She reached out to Ngoy and other Cambodian families who ran donut shops, and within six weeks began principal photography. I say, Ted I dont think its that easy at all. And hell respond, Ive been rich three times. 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. 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. Oh, and stop for a donut and say "hi.". He was Chinese Cambodian, part of a despised underclass. "I cry. Ted kept a low profile until the LA filmmaker Alice Gu got in touch a couple of years ago. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy; 1942) is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of doughnut shops in California. "He was a little uneasy," Gu says. So I decided to change.". But on a later trip Ted had a go on the blackjack tables, and soon he was hooked on the glamour and the adrenaline. More and more relatives came forward for sponsorship. Suganthinis parents kept her locked in her room for days. 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. Until then, she was kept sheltered. How to get the best eggs in town without leaving your yard. At 35, Ngoy had already climbed out of poverty and into privilege once. [2][3][4], The Donut King was directed by Alice Gu, and is her first feature film. They arranged a meeting for the couple at a relatives house, where Ngoy was expected to formally end their romance. Ted negotiated well and got a good commission. Christy and Ted bought a $1-million, three-story, 7,000-square-foot house with palm trees and a three-car garage on Lake Mission Viejo in Orange County. [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. Most importantly, the trip allowed him to mend relations with Christy, who has now remarried, and with their grown-up children. Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. called Despite never really being a huge success under the previous owners, Christy's became popular under the ownership of the Ngoys. Christy was in the front and made a lot of inroads with the community and built a lot of bridges. As word of Ted's success spread, Cambodian immigrants started seeking him out when they arrived in Southern California. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. But while she was gone Ted had an affair. You will end up destroying the whole family and no more relationship with the world, just finished. I am the child of immigrants who came and moved here for the American dream. He sat on the roof of his apartment and played his flute, the music sweeping over the neighborhood. 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. As far as the immigrant experience and my parents what it really did for me is open my eyes and I just cut them some slack about growing up here in conflict with wanting to be an American kid and their Chinese ways of raising me. Is there anything that you left on the cutting room floor that you still think about?There are a lot of things that I still think about on the cutting room floor. If you're enjoying this article, you'll love my daily morning newsletter, How To LA. Cambodia was planning its first elections in 1993, and well-to-do emigres from California were returning to run for office. Some of those he borrowed from were the people he had leased doughnut shops to. Late at night, Ngoy would put Suganthini on his back and climb down the roof, then down the coconut tree. All that money paid for expensive clothes, luxury cars, fancy trips and an opulent home in Mission Viejo. On one of his Las Vegas trips, Ngoy took up gambling. 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. I dont know who I am right now, he said. Ted Ngoy: Yeah. "It made me homesick," says Ted. She later discovered that they were among the first to be executed by the Khmer Rouge. In 1985, he and Suganthini became U.S. citizens. Seasonal Halloween donuts at DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. Next to the petrol station there was a doughnut shop called DK Donuts. He built a donut empire and $20 million in wealth, but his fortune built on donuts would crumble and he would lose it all. And it was actually a donut that I refused at first from Mayly Tao, the Donut Princess. "He was afraid of being shunned and feeling lonely - but I forced him!" He had burned a lot of bridges and at the time his children hardly spoke to him. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Also, significantly for Ngoy, other Cambodian refugees and their children donuts. Suganthinis father ran out from hiding and called an ambulance. 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. Few foods are as universally adored as fried dough. 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. 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. In the early 1970s, Cambodia was in the midst of a brutal civil war that displaced two million people, more than a quarter of the country's population. The son of a peddler had no chance with such a girl, no right even to think of loving her. He turned down a job as a security guard because it required standing for eight hours. He says to me, Alice, making money its so easy. The family were among the many tens of thousands of . On the porch of a friends mobile home in Long Beach, the Cambodian doughnut king falls asleep each night shivering. I said, 'Because it's incredible, for one. Instantly acquiring the rank of Major, Ted and his young family moved to Bangkok, and every month he travelled back to Cambodia to collect the wages for his soldiers. [5] Ted is my great uncle,'" Gu says. He was ready to be taken by a new passion. "[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. He hired his wife and nephew. "But many of them were not related, they just lived in the same village or heard of my name. Why are we still having these debates? [5], Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. After setting up a sweet shop of his own, he helped fellow . One night, he. Once a paragon in the community, refugees now avoided him for fear of being asked for a loan. I just do it.. 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. If you can dream it, they're probably mixing it somewhere on property. His mother raised him in a rural village near Cambodias border with Thailand. "You can't find any prettier woman besides her.". [8] However, the film's directorAlice Gupersuaded him to and, ultimately, he regarded his return as a 'healing experience,' and his ex-wife and children have forgiven him. She became Christy. Im Chinese American. Long hours. No political life, no religious life, just work, work, he said. Six weeks later, Gu and her producer, Jos Nuez, were on a plane to Cambodia where they spent three days interviewing Ngoy and shooting B-roll. Your Guide To Everything Boozy You Can Order, A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth. Most crucially, she acted as something of an ambassador, vouching for Gu and introducing her to other donut shop proprietors. He trained them and handed over the keys. Volcanic tiki drinks. "The note said, 'I appreciate you blowing the flute. Those are the sounds of a man in love, her mother said. Ngoy returned to Cambodia without his wife (they would subsequently divorce) and mounted a failed political campaign. Suganthini became the smiling face behind the counter, even though she hardly spoke any English. Long-lost ship found at the bottom of Lake Huron, confirming story of tragic collision, TikTok to set default daily time limit of up to 60 minutes for minors, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, TikTok faces bans in a number of countries over security fears. Twice he joined a Buddhist monastery. So he named his own political party the Free Development Republican Party. 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. 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. He shaved his head and spent three months barefoot in Thailand, coming back emaciated and a changed man - or so he thought. Ted was the consummate schmoozer and salesman. One night in a pouring rain, Ngoy scaled a coconut tree beside the wall surrounding her home. He joined Gamblers Anonymous but was back at the tables in no time. He believed he could show others the path to wealth and opportunity. 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. When he couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. 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. I always thought of it as a Plan B to come back and now, it has become the Plan A and more," Tao says. I say, Ted, who are you? I really dont know.. Ngoy forged her signature on checks. That is a lie, he cried, and plunged the blade into his belly. 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