Theres this portion in the film that goes into Ted and his ex-wife Christys experiences in Orange County during the 70s. So he named his own political party the Free Development Republican Party. By the mid-1980s, he was a millionaire. in Irvine, Bun Tek Ngoy touched down at Camp Pendleton on a military plane in May of 1975 with his wife and three young children. Director Alice Gu makes her film debut with The Donut King, following the life of Ted Ngoy. in Pasadena, In 1990, after disappearing for another disastrous trip to Las Vegas, he flew to Washington, D.C., and joined a Buddhist monastery. Ted managed to escape on the last flight out of Phnom Penh but Suganthini's parents were left behind. Ngoy bought stores in Fullerton, Anaheim, Anaheim Hills and Buena Park over the next year. Gu's documentary, I think thats the American way the power of connections and people. When he was working in the donut shop, he went to his sponsor and said he was having a hard time. Where are they now?. Whenever Ted won, the family would rejoice with him. (Elina Shatkin/LAist). They arranged a meeting for the couple at a relatives house, where Ngoy was expected to formally end their romance. "They're a good company and I owe them gratitude," Ted says. Perpetually in need of cash, he'd ask the people running his donut shops for loans. He borrowed money from relatives who had leased his doughnut shops. "Everybody's happy to see me now, because I changed from the bad guy to the good guy.". When they were released, the cash was gone. They saw Elvis Presley perform, and Ted played a little blackjack. ", He communicates with them almost every day. He spends his evenings alone, reading the Bible. And she was heavily chaperoned. He was, however, invited to become a government adviser on commerce and agriculture. He is working in real estate. The whole community banded together and they all agreed to sell him out of donuts every morning by 9 a.m. Theres so much competition. 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. I go to borrow. . The couple and their three toddlers arrived penniless at Camp Pendleton, part of the first wave of Cambodian refugees. in San Clemente and, of course, DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. In doing the research and finding that it was President [Gerald] Ford who issued the executive order to receive the refugees, a Republican president that was a huge surprise to me given that during the time that we were making this film we were hearing Donald Trumps rhetoric. California Sunday He dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. Ted joined the Republican Party, held fundraisers for George H.W. Even in gambling. 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. "I cry. After Ted revealed his presence to Christy, he hid under her bed until he was eventually discovered and her family allowed them be together. He did not fare well in either the 1993 or 1998 parliamentary elections, but his friend, Prime Minister Hun Sen, made him an advisor on commerce and agriculture. The past I cannot change, but I learned the heavy way. They made a blood pact, promising to be forever faithful. Why are we still having these debates? Eventually, her parents discovered Ngoy and threw him out. When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. Her daughter, Mayly Tao, has taken over the reigns of DK's. An owner could keep costs low by employing his family. He hired his wife and nephew. Suganthini and her mother heard the music. [10] Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. [1], That's why I want to tell the world, "Do not gamble." It was love at first bite. Christy has remarried and lives in the US, Listen to Ted Ngoy on Outlook on the BBC World Service, Download the podcast for more extraordinary stories, The Donut King, is available in the US now in theatres and online and will be coming to the UK in 2021, Listen to Ted Ngoy on Outlook: How the Donut King lost his crown. Rose Donuts and Cafe 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. The Donut King is a 2020 American documentary film which tells the life story of California donut shop owner Ted Ngoy. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. He had hidden a dagger and he took it out and stabbed himself three times. You just have to see the opportunity and go for it. Those are the wise words of Ted Ngoy. Christy would search for him in the casinos, the children in tow. She divorced him and didnt return to Cambodia. When you first reached out to Ted, it was a cold call. "'You want to tell my story? Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. The stranger who crept into her room more than 35 years ago is a stranger again. Few foods are as universally adored as fried dough. Ngoy became a trainee and took over a Winchells in Newport Beach. 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. 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. But from then on, every store Ngoy and his wife bought or opened they named Christys Doughnuts. Suganthini was terrified, but she let the stranger stay. By 1976, Ted had saved up enough money to buy his own shop, which he named Christy's. Once, he was a millionaire who met three U.S. presidents. 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. 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. "They forgive me fully. In Cambodia, Ngoy formed the Free Development Republican Party. "It's impossible to explain that money had nothing to do with it. Ngoy became a trainee and took over a Winchell's in Newport Beach. Once, I said I would die if something happened to him, Christy said of her ex-husband. 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. You will end up destroying the whole family and no more relationship with the world, just finished. Ted liked Cadillacs; Christy preferred Mercedes-Benz convertibles. Ted, who spoke four languages, was offered a post as liaison officer in Thailand by Suganthini's brother-in-law, Gen Sak Sutsakhan. It also reminds us that several U.S. presidents welcomed a flood of refugees with open arms. Yeah, My Family Doesn't Either, Soup Dumplings, Kimchi Burritos And More Fast, Cheap Eats In Glendale, At Masarap Cafe, West African and Filipino Cuisines Find Their Pairing, Drinking At Disneyland? By 2002 Ted was broke. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Key grant funding to help O.C. He remarried and had four more children - the youngest two are still at school. Tell us about your wife. [4], Despite the wealth he had amassed and his importance within his community, Ngoy felt dissatisfied, remarking that he had "No political life, no religious life, just work, work. 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. At the weekend the oldest children, Chet and Savy, then nine and eight, helped out by pouring coffee, packing doughnuts and folding boxes. He wanted to buy more, but he was exhausted running the five he owned. He had to guess which room was hers. She would drive there with her youngest son and go from hotel to hotel looking for him. She belonged to a high ranking officer, you know like a princess in Cambodia, very rich and very powerful family. 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. After cry, go back gambling.. Ted remembers hiding from her behind the slot machines. Besides, he reasoned, as a politician he would not be able to gamble. He believed he could show others the path to wealth and opportunity. With the help of his brother-in-law, he was promoted to major and appointed military attache at the countrys embassy in Thailand. Then, he lost it all. COVID-19 has hit her store and most other shops hard. 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. , to name a few outlets), but Alice Gu is the first to put it on film. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Theres a hustle to it, and director Alice Gu captures it in her debut documentary The Donut King.. "After cry, go back gambling," he told one interviewer. 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. One of their sons is a financial consultant; another is a computer-networking technician. Boozy Dole Whips. [8], After Cambodia's establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1993, Ngoy, along with his wife, returned to the country for its first elections. Former staff writer Vera Castaneda covered arts, entertainment, lifestyle and issues related to Orange County for TimesOC, a community newspaper owned by the Los Angeles Times. Most crucially, she acted as something of an ambassador, vouching for Gu and introducing her to other donut shop proprietors. Phnom Penh Post Some of the interviews in the film seemed that way.It was actually really wonderful to speak with particularly his older kids Chet and Savy, who until that interview, they didnt have much to do with him. A week later, Suganthini wrote back, and the two began a secret correspondence. "Some of them were cousins, uncles, nieces," says Ted. Christy has remarried and lives in Lake Forest, not far from their three adult children, who all live in Orange County. He is nicknamed the "Donut King." He is nicknamed the "Donut King." Ted soon got a job working at Winchell's, which was then the dominant donut chain on the West Coast. Ted and Christy are divorced. Huge numbers of Cambodian refugees were arriving in California. After completing the company's training program, they gave him the keys to a store in Newport Beach. In 1985, he and Suganthini became U.S. citizens. Ted, Christy and their two kids fled to Thailand. Casino operators gave Ngoy free rooms, food, airfare and front-row seats to prize fights. Suganthini's family insisted Ted break it off by telling her he didn't love her. buy a ticket When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. 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. 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. What new information did you learn in the making of the film?There was a lot that was new to me. Some of those he borrowed from were the people he had leased doughnut shops to. There were some hurt relationships. Long hours. I say, Ted I dont think its that easy at all. And hell respond, Ive been rich three times. Hes really funny. She would forgive him when he promised to stop, and he would -- for a while. Ngoy wrote to her. They told him Winchells Donuts trained store managers. Doughnut shops were easy to run. One night under a full moon, they knelt and prayed. "I never back down. One night, he. For a year and a half, I struggled with how I was going to get access to that Mission Viejo mansion. Where Im going, I dont know. "That's why I want to tell the world, 'Do not gamble.' He had gotten his first taste of that passion years earlier. [6], The Donut King had its world premiere in the Documentary Feature Competition the South by Southwest film festival. And then we opened second store in Fullerton, and when they opened, I also train people and my wage, Christi, also . [citation needed] Ngoy's political career ended in 2002 after breaking with two powerful allies, the commerce minister and the head of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce, Teng Bunma. I am the flute player, he said in a note passed through the familys maid. "It made me homesick," says Ted. All the latest on Orange County from Orange County. Then he pulled a knife. "This story sheds light on refugees in a positive way, about what happens when they're given an opportunity," she says. At 16, she had no friends, could not talk to boys and was forbidden to leave home alone. But the name was misleading. When he lost big, he would sign the stores over to them. The family also still had the Winchell's so now they had two stores to run. When he lost their money he would just sign over the shop to them - without telling Christy, whose signature he forged. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted, because of the many Cambodian immigrants he'd sponsored. Seasonal Halloween donuts at DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. "I became a very, very bad man and borrowed money here and there," he says. Some of his relationships didnt end well. The world moves so quickly now, but I do believe that it is still real and it is still possible. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy; 1942) is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of doughnut shops in California. LAist.com/radio. Broke, Ted and Christy returned to Cambodia. In the 1980s and '90s, when Dunkin' Donuts tried to establish itself on the West Coast, his frosted, deep-fried empire sent the company packing. After setting up a sweet shop of his own, he helped fellow . None of the people Ngoy helped get started lent him a hand, he said: I trained them. This documentary tells Ted Ngoy's story that is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks, and redemption. He shaved his head and spent three months barefoot in Thailand, coming back emaciated and a changed man - or so he thought. Every time I met them I said, 'Sorry son, sorry my daughter, sorry Christy. Her father was a high-ranking government official. "He was afraid of being shunned and feeling lonely - but I forced him!" in Tustin sponsored the family, allowing them to live in the church where Ted worked as a janitor. Ted became their first South East Asian trainee. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, they knew they couldn't go home. As many as I could.". They cried and prayed for the family they had left behind. 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. He also figured that as a prominent politician, he would be forced to control his gambling habit. Then, after falling out with a powerful political rival he feared for his life and fled to the US. One night he asked the woman at the counter if saving $3,000 would be enough to buy a doughnut shop. That's because of a refugee who built up an empire, and became known as the Donut King, only to lose it all. Ted began to look for more doughnut shops to buy and lease to fellow refugees. Near the station was a doughnut shop. Before sunrise, they would climb back into her room. But Cambodians were leaving the business, tired of working 17-hour days and squeezing a 13-cent profit from every 65-cent doughnut. It was a humbling experience, and the lowest point in his life. It took longer than 40 years. A woman from his church lets him sleep in the screened porch outside her mobile home, which he has fashioned into a makeshift bedroom. I'm no good. Word spread. In 1975, Ngoy fled the Khmer Rouge with his wife and three . [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 bought his first doughnut shop from a couple who was retiring. 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. When I become big guy, then I cannot go gamble because people wont vote for you. This is an incredible story of how he helped people. That phrase Donut King is already so eye-catching right off the bat. Ted did try to curb his habit. I believed him a thousand times, she said. 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. A princess in Cambodia, Ngoy fled the Khmer Rouge with his wife and three 2020 documentary! Pact, promising to be forever faithful her store and most other hard. 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