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What new information did you learn in the making of the film?There was a lot that was new to me. Ngoy is Cambodian and he was in Phnom Penh when it fell. I believed him a thousand times, she said. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. Suganthinis father ran out from hiding and called an ambulance. Her parents and cousins hid behind curtains so they could hear him break off the relationship. But he admits he was also aware that conquering Suganthini's heart held out the promise of a better life. I ended up not sharing that donut. 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. Ngoy doesnt remember how many stores he started or bought -- 40? [6] Gu persuaded him to and, ultimately, he regarded his return as a 'healing experience,' and his ex-wife and children have forgiven him. Ngoy showed them baking and bookkeeping. And that's what he did. They barely talked to him. Sent to the city to study, Ngoy met the beautiful Suganthini Khoeun who was the daughter of a government. Doughnut shops were easy to run. in Irvine, And he has a new goal. No days off. He became tired running doughnut shops on his own and decided to train and lease shops to his relatives and employ Cambodian refugees. 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. They went to Europe twice. ", He communicates with them almost every day. He wrapped the note around a stone, and threw it down. As many as I could.". But Cambodians were leaving the business, tired of working 17-hour days and squeezing a 13-cent profit from every 65-cent doughnut. They saved money where they could, even washing and reusing coffee stirrers - until they were reprimanded by Winchell's. 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. Ted encouraged others to do the same. That's because of a refugee who built up an empire, and became known as the Donut King, only to lose it all. I just do it.. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted,. At loose ends, she returned to Los Angeles and, once again, started helping with the family business. Beautiful views aren't the only thing drawing Angelenos to the region. In our very first phone call, he asked if I was American and I told him that I was Chinese American. Ngoy joined the army. "I cry. Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. 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 stranger who crept into her room more than 35 years ago is a stranger again. 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. "Before I'd never gambled, but like all the compulsive gamblers in the world, first you throw in a couple of bucks, $10, $20. , some of the dough (see what we did there?) On the porch of a friends mobile home in Long Beach, the Cambodian doughnut king falls asleep each night shivering. [5], The film received 69/100 on Metacritic, receiving "generally favorable reviews. [9], Ngoy is the subject of the 2020 documentary film The Donut King. He enjoyed meeting the younger generation of doughnut makers, who are innovating and inventing new flavours. He sat on the roof of his apartment and played his flute, the music sweeping over the neighborhood. "They're a good company and I owe them gratitude," Ted says. [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. , to name a few outlets), but Alice Gu is the first to put it on film. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. Ted became their first South East Asian trainee. 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 divorced him and didnt return to Cambodia. And I thought, How could that be? Hes passed away now so I cant talk to him about it, but it was a learning experience for me about my parents relationship with politics. With Chuong Pek Lee, Susan Lim, Ted Ngoy, Daewon Song. He remarried and had four more children - the youngest two are still at school. One involves reggae and another focuses on Puerto Rican musicians. Ngoy had become an example to other Cambodian immigrants, who began to follow his business model for their own entrepreneurial endeavors. He credits his Christian faith with finally curing his gambling addiction, although he confesses he liked to bet on football games until last year. "It's impossible to explain that money had nothing to do with it. Ngoy tried Gamblers Anonymous. She would drive there with her youngest son and go from hotel to hotel looking for him. He has found his way to be wealthy again. While he was recovering in hospital, Suganthini also made an attempt on her life. But while she was gone Ted had an affair. The family were among the many tens of thousands of . He also figured that as a prominent politician, he would be forced to control his gambling habit. Buddha cannot help me.. After a civil war broke out and Phnom Penh fell to the communist Khmer. Doughnuts offered an escape from years of welfare dependency. 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. But he was more than well-off; he was respected. He had no home and no money, and his country had been overrun by a gang of pitiless thugs. Ted Ngoy, his wife and family pick up the story and walk us through their unbelievable experience, flying to a . Director Alice Gu makes her film debut with The Donut King, following the life of Ted Ngoy. What is Ted up to in Cambodia nowadays?Ted is doing well. The next day, he flew back to Los Angeles. A week later, Suganthini wrote back, and the two began a secret correspondence. Ted now had a new passion - politics. Because of the Ngoys, a Cambodian refugees first American job was often in a doughnut shop. I go to borrow. Since many of them had gotten their start in the business and the United States thanks to Ngoy, they were happy to help. Why are we still having these debates? Eventually Cambodians owned so many doughnut shops in California that they dominated the market, pushing Winchell's into second place. ", But in the end, he says, he beat it. Ngoy's gambling had progressed from the card tables to placing bets on sports games with Cambodian bookies. He says to me, Alice, making money its so easy. goes to your local theater. The two had met as teenage classmates in Phnom Penh. I never will be able to pay back. "I achieved my American dream," Ted says. The Donut King diretcor Alice Gu talks about what led her to make a film about Ted Ngoy, her first intro to the phenomenon of Cambodian donut shops and how she got a Wu-Tang song in the score. Ngoy forged her signature on checks. 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. It was a humbling experience, and the lowest point in his life. With the pastor's permission he went out and got two more jobs, as a sales person from 6pm to 10pm and petrol attendant from 10pm to 6am. "You can't find any prettier woman besides her.". 2023 Southern California Public Radio - All Rights Reserved, Rising Egg Prices Are For The Birds. I wanted to tell this story in a way that was inspirational and optimistic. 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. Until then, she was kept sheltered. LAist.com/radio. Ted and Christy are divorced. 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. She would discover big losses, and they would argue, sending their children running to their rooms. When he lost their money he would just sign over the shop to them - without telling Christy, whose signature he forged. "She was so beautiful," he remembers. Each morning, he walked with the monks, begging for food from peasants, crying as the rocky roads tore at his bare feet. "This friendly voice picks up the phone, a young voice in that perfectly American accented English. I say, Ted I dont think its that easy at all. And hell respond, Ive been rich three times. To make sure he went through with it, they insisted on hiding behind a curtain while he said his spiel. Your tax-deductible financial support keeps our stories free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. When I become big guy, then I cannot go gamble because people wont vote for you. Ted, Christy and their two kids fled to Thailand. Over the last few years, Tao has rebranded the shop with a colorful, hot pink logo and experimented in the kitchen, producing eye-catching, Instagram-friendly creations and original flavors. She thought Ted was joking, but he was serious. Some of his relationships didnt end well. But one night, he had an idea. One night under a full moon, they knelt and prayed. "They forgive me fully. Ngoy fled with his wife, three young children, two cousins and a nephew to the United States in 1975. I did not have time to expand. I think there's nothing wrong for them to lie to the embassy because everybody needs a chance to survive. Theyre savvy, young, hip. [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. Once back in Orange County, he bet more than ever. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Suspected shooter in attacks on Jewish men was on FBIs radar, LAPD chief says, Caregiver accused in Manhattan Beach child sexual abuse case believed to be in Philippines, Prosecution presents closing arguments in Alex Murdaugh murder trial, Intel agencies say theres no sign adversaries were behind Havana syndrome, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Its really bad up here. Stranded residents in San Bernardino Mountains brace for more snow, Jaguars, narcos, illegal loggers: One mans battle to save a jungle and Maya ruins, Dr. Simi is a TikTok star. To understand the politics, the Republican party at the time was a very anticommunist party. Her brother-in-law, Sutsakhan Sak, was chief of police and would become, briefly, the countrys president. , the "It went like fire on the hill, so fast," says Ted. Gambling is a devil. It also reminds us that several U.S. presidents welcomed a flood of refugees with open arms. Alice found it hard to persuade Ted to return to California for filming. I could have made a special piece just on the history of donuts. Suganthini's family insisted Ted break it off by telling her he didn't love her. Oh, and stop for a donut and say "hi.". [8], After Cambodia's establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1993, Ngoy, along with his wife, returned to the country for its first elections. One day in 2018, she cold-called 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. 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. After cry, go back gambling.. It was on the market. The Ngoys decided to keep uniformity amongst their shops, naming subsequent acquisitions Christy's. . Where Im going, I dont know. They had lost their beautiful home and their chain of shops, but still had enough money to live comfortably. "It's a devil, it's a monster. Then he would return to Vegas in an attempt to win back what he had lost. The family members worked 17 hours a day and saved for a year. Im Chinese American. 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. He believed he could show others the path to wealth and opportunity. None of the people Ngoy helped get started lent him a hand, he said: I trained them. How did those scenes end up happening?I asked him to travel to California again. It was here that Ngoy had his first taste of gambling while placing bets at the blackjack tables. When you get to the table, youre so emotional, evil in your body, he said. One of Ngoy's first jobs in the US was as a service station attendant. 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. "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. 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. L.A. became the country's epicenter of donut culture when Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian immigrant, arrived in California during the 1970s. He said that we didnt have room for these refugees here. Then he had his next great idea. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. Eventually he and Christy were left with just one doughnut shop, which they decided to sell. But from then on, every store Ngoy and his wife bought or opened they named Christys Doughnuts. Was there any tension or awkwardness when he visited California again?He came to visit California, I think, with a little bit of trepidation. "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. Ted was the consummate schmoozer and salesman. At 35, Ngoy had already climbed out of poverty and into privilege once. His mother raised him in a rural village near Cambodias border with Thailand. A woman from his church lets him sleep in the screened porch outside her mobile home, which he has fashioned into a makeshift bedroom. One of them being my interview with Michael Krondl, the food historian. [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. "It was a different take on a refugee story,". You cannot resist against it.. Never give up. Suganthini became the smiling face behind the counter, even though she hardly spoke any English. "This story sheds light on refugees in a positive way, about what happens when they're given an opportunity," she says. 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. Seasonal Halloween donuts at DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. She said he would be throwing his money away. 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. "[9] In a mixed review, Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail said the film is "well worth watching" while saying there "are holes in this doughnut story. In the early 1990s, it was reported that California had 2,400 Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. in Tustin sponsored the family, allowing them to live in the church where Ted worked as a janitor. In 1993 Ted and Christy moved back to Cambodia. When he was working in the donut shop, he went to his sponsor and said he was having a hard time. 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. "Many times I try to commit suicide because I hate myself. But with great riches come great temptations. But on a later trip Ted had a go on the blackjack tables, and soon he was hooked on the glamour and the adrenaline. Favorable reviews involves reggae and another focuses on Puerto Rican musicians and Christy moved back to Angeles... To put it on film the story and walk us through their unbelievable,. Hidden behind paywalls ( see what we did there? sat on the porch a. 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