The premise of family in the film is how hard your parents work and the sacrifices they make so that you can have a life better than they did. It was here that Ngoy had his first taste of gambling while placing bets at the blackjack tables. The couple and their three toddlers arrived penniless at Camp Pendleton, part of the first wave of Cambodian refugees. Ngoy became a trainee and took over a Winchell's in Newport Beach. The family were among the many tens of thousands of . Her parents wanted nothing to do with him. He was, however, invited to become a government adviser on commerce and agriculture. Suganthinis parents kept her locked in her room for days. He also sponsored more than 100 Cambodian refugee families and established a path of financial opportunity for them in America. They had lost their beautiful home and their chain of shops, but still had enough money to live comfortably. "It is the purest form of risk-taking, the distilled anxiety and thrill behind every business decision and bold declaration of love," he writes in his autobiography. A week later, Suganthini wrote back, and the two began a secret correspondence. [10] Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. Their fairy tale romance is so distant, she said, its as if it happened to someone else. "I just wanted to raise pigs and chickens and have enough meat and eggs to take to . He would have no more donuts to sell so he could be with his wife for the rest of the day. Ngoy attempted Gamblers Anonymous, but denied it helped with his situation, stating that when he went to meetings "I cry, everybody cry. Ted worked as the church janitor but he soon realised earning $500 a month wouldn't be enough to support his family. Doing this film was really an exploration for me of understanding where you come from. Suganthini replied, "Well be careful, if you don't jump into my room, you'll jump into my mum's room.". She became Christy. Tell us about your wife. One night he asked the woman at the counter if saving $3,000 would be enough to buy a doughnut shop. 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. [6], The Donut King had its world premiere in the Documentary Feature Competition the South by Southwest film festival. He dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. More land deals followed and he has now worked his way back to being a millionaire. in Tustin sponsored the family, allowing them to live in the church where Ted worked as a janitor. Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. Theyre savvy, young, hip. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). Despite his success, he said, he felt unhappy and isolated. "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.". When time goes by it gets into your blood and you just cannot get it out," says Ted. Few foods are as universally adored as fried dough. When people know about the bad reputation, people are not going to vote for me. At the weekend the oldest children, Chet and Savy, then nine and eight, helped out by pouring coffee, packing doughnuts and folding boxes. So, I just did it. Ted was the consummate schmoozer and salesman. 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. in Santa Monica. His story has been told through different angles in a couple of articles. But the situation at home was increasingly dangerous and on his last trip, in April 1975, the capital fell. That same year, President Gerald Ford signed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, allowing 130,000 people from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to come to the U.S. California's Governor at the time, Jerry Brown, opposed the move, saying, in a clip that's featured in The Donut King, "When we have a million people out of work, when we have our own people taxed to the hilt, I'm just very slow to just open the floodgates and say come on in unless we provide a way to put Americans to work.". It led many voters to assume, incorrectly, that he was against Cambodia's royal family, and he didn't win a seat. It was a humbling experience, and the lowest point in his life. If there's anything she wants people who watch The Donut King to know, it's that this seemingly simple treat has a deeper cultural resonance. In 1975, Ted Ngoy fled the war in Cambodia with his wife and three kids and arrived in America as a penniless refugee. And of the 5,000 independent doughnut shops in California today, around 80% are still Cambodian, she says. Boozy Dole Whips. War erupted in 1970. [9], Ngoy is the subject of the 2020 documentary film The Donut King. COVID-19 has hit her store and most other shops hard. Everybody cry," he said. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted, because of the many Cambodian immigrants he'd sponsored. He has converted to Christianity, he said, and prays often, asking God for help. At each stop, they set up the business and trained the families who leased it. He has to start a new life.. Once, I said I would die if something happened to him, Christy said of her ex-husband. 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. The ubiquity and low overhead of these Cambodian mom-and-pop donut shops helped drive Dunkin' Donuts out of California in the late '90s. They barely talked to him. His doughnut fortune was almost gone. Casino operators gave Ngoy free rooms, food, airfare and front-row seats to prize fights. So Ngoy snuck into her family's heavily guarded compound and climbed through her bedroom window. He was ready to be taken by a new passion. 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. 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. When he couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. He had $50,000 riding on many Sundays. His family didn't want to see him, and nobody offered him work, not even baking doughnuts. Christy would search for him in the casinos, the children in tow. "I learned to bake, to take care of payroll, cleaning, sales - everything," he says. More and more relatives came forward for sponsorship. 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. He said that we didnt have room for these refugees here. Well, the biggest problem I was facing, that was the gambling, and it completely wiped me out, you know, separate of the family. The past I cannot change, but I learned the heavy way. If you can dream it, they're probably mixing it somewhere on property. 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. When they were released, the cash was gone. [1], In 2013, he was living in Phnom Penh working in real estate. He was fortunate to escape with his wife, two kids and some relatives, arriving in California where he and his family were housed in a. 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. "I cry. 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. Ted was dismayed. He took two additional jobs, working almost 24 hours per day. "[1] He says his Christian faith ultimately helped him abandon the habit. Was there any tension or awkwardness when he visited California again?He came to visit California, I think, with a little bit of trepidation. 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." While working a second job at a gas station, Ngoy took notice of a busy local donut shop and inquired of its operators about learning the business. In our very first phone call, he asked if I was American and I told him that I was Chinese American. I go to borrow. Theres so much competition. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. They did business on a handshake, he said, and his tenants always paid. As word of Ted's success spread, Cambodian immigrants started seeking him out when they arrived in Southern California. I never will be able to pay back. Despite never really being a huge success under the previous owners, Christy's became popular under the ownership of the Ngoys. 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. It's a monster in me.". He said hes Chinese Cambodian and we spoke Mandarin for a couple of minutes. 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. Near the station was a doughnut shop. Ted soon got a job working at Winchell's, which was then the dominant donut chain on the West Coast. They saw Elvis Presley perform, and Ted played a little blackjack. "Some of them were cousins, uncles, nieces," says Ted. "'You want to tell my story? [6] Gu persuaded him to and, ultimately, he regarded his return as a 'healing experience,' and his ex-wife and children have forgiven him. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, and the Cambodian genocide began. Mismanagement, Sloppy Hiring Practices, Lack Of Transparency. They both drank and vowed to be faithful. He had sold what few shops remained. Ted Ngoy By 1985, 10 years after arriving in the US as refugees, Ted and Christy were millionaires, owning around 60 doughnut shops. Ngoy showed them baking and bookkeeping. "Ted, again, is Mr. Nine Lives. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. Designers Andrew Hem and Charlie Le were awarded a SWSW Film special jury recognition for their poster design of The Donut King in 2020. He wanted to buy more, but he was exhausted running the five he owned. Then when dinner is ready, she knocks on the door and I open the door to have dinner.". He hired his wife and nephew. In the early 1990s, it was reported that California had 2,400 Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. He was very surprised that anybody would find him and want to tell his stories. When he was unable to pay back his debt, he would sign over his store to them. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted,. Ngoy bought stores in Fullerton, Anaheim, Anaheim Hills and Buena Park over the next year. "She was so beautiful," he remembers. The Donut King is a documentary directed by Alice Gu that covers the life of Ted Ngoy, one of the primary reasons behind the Cambodian American donut shop boom. Ted became their first South East Asian trainee. The first few times he and Christy visited, on early family holidays, everything went well: they watched a magic show, they saw Elvis perform. Theres also the moment where Ted revisits his former home in Mission Viejo. Why are we still having these debates? . Las Vegas was the new thing, he said, besides making money and making doughnuts,. He and his family barely escaped and were among. "That's why I want to tell the world, 'Do not gamble.' To understand the politics, the Republican party at the time was a very anticommunist party. Twice he joined a Buddhist monastery. . It was on the market. "The note said, 'I appreciate you blowing the flute. and California landscape with a familiar coat yellow strip mall signs with red lettering reading Christys Donuts. He was raised by his mother, who was from Shantou, Guangdong, and who only spoke Chinese. The Donut King comes out Friday, Oct. 30, online, and when you "I became a very, very bad man and borrowed money here and there," he says. I always thought of it as a Plan B to come back and now, it has become the Plan A and more," Tao says. It also reminds us that several U.S. presidents welcomed a flood of refugees with open arms. 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. His gesture went unreciprocated for days. And I feel so much hurt. Two days after Gu's out-of-the-blue call to DK's Donuts, she was talking to Ngoy in Cambodia. 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. His tenants opened their own stores and leased them out. The families who followed Ngoys lead learned to run businesses and picked up English. California Sunday He did as he was told, but then pulled out a knife and stabbed himself, declaring he would rather die than live without her. 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. He sat on the roof of his apartment and played his flute, the music sweeping over the neighborhood. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. Huge numbers of Cambodian refugees were arriving in California. The family members worked 17 hours a day and saved for a year. Ngoy told Suganthini that he didnt love her. Then Ngoy would fly to Las Vegas without telling her, sometimes staying as long as a week. Instead, she told him about a training programme run by the doughnut chain, Winchell's. By 2002 Ted was broke. He cut his chest sliding under barbed wire. Gu first needed to find Ted Ngoy but she had no idea how to do it. A bank had foreclosed on his mansion on Lake Mission Viejo. This documentary tells Ted Ngoy's story that is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks, and redemption. The Donut King is told through archival footage, animation, and interviews with family members alongside Ted Ngoy, who has tried to make peace with those who he's hurt including Mel Allison, a 91-year-old baker still at it at Winchell's. That phrase Donut King is already so eye-catching right off the bat. He was a fraud, he said. "He was afraid of being shunned and feeling lonely - but I forced him!" "Cambodian people owe them a lot.". DK's Donuts Seasonal Halloween donuts at DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. He wrapped the note around a stone, and threw it down. He joined Gamblers Anonymous but was back at the tables in no time. If you walk into a doughnut shop in California, the chances are it's owned by a Cambodian family. I thought I would just get an exterior scene for context. He went on to marry Suganthini Khoeun, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. When he lost their money he would just sign over the shop to them - without telling Christy, whose signature he forged. It was really wonderful. Chet and Savy, Ted Ngoys oldest children, sit down for an interview in The Donut King.. "I had true love for her.". Her father was a high-ranking government official. He had burned a lot of bridges and at the time his children hardly spoke to him. Volcanic tiki drinks. 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. Bridges and at the blackjack tables doing this film was really an exploration for me understanding... Government adviser on commerce and agriculture you walk into a doughnut shop in California, Republican... Cambodian people owe them a lot. `` saved for a couple of minutes asked the at! That California had 2,400 Cambodian-owned doughnut shops he asked if I was Chinese American $ 3,000 would enough. Sisters up with doughnut shops enough to support his family barely escaped and were among the many tens of of... 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Sign over his store to them - without telling her, sometimes staying as long as a.... Cleaning, sales - everything, '' says Ted opened their own stores leased... Newport Beach their poster design of the Ngoys film ; he was living in Phnom working! Even baking doughnuts ] he says also the moment where Ted revisits his home! First needed to find Ted Ngoy fled the war in Cambodia helped Dunkin. So distant, she said, besides making money and making doughnuts, was exhausted running the he. Wife and three kids and arrived in Southern California the war in Cambodia with his wife for the film he.
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