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Never give up. "He was afraid of being shunned and feeling lonely - but I forced him!" called 2023 Southern California Public Radio - All Rights Reserved, Rising Egg Prices Are For The Birds. He also apologised to many of those he hurt. The families who followed Ngoys lead learned to run businesses and picked up English. The past I cannot change, but I learned the heavy way. When time goes by it gets into your blood and you just cannot get it out," says Ted. 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 also figured that as a prominent politician, he would be forced to control his gambling habit. "Using money to provide for others is a feeling as powerful as any drug," he later wrote. 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. Not many professional gamblers are bipolar women, but Cat Hulbert was one of the best - and she delighted in winning money from men. [6], The Donut King had its world premiere in the Documentary Feature Competition the South by Southwest film festival. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. 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. He had to guess which room was hers. Following his time in the nation's capital, Ngoy spent time in a monastery in the Thai countryside where he spent his morning begging for alms. He helped them apply for permits. Ted negotiated well and got a good commission. , some of the dough (see what we did there?) After cry, go back gambling.. "[1] In 1977, the Ngoys took a trip to Las Vegas where Ted saw Elvis Presley. I have to go to school.". I believed him a thousand times, she said. I never will be able to pay back. A daughter owns a 1950s-style hamburger restaurant in Orange County. . So he named his own political party the Free Development Republican Party. Alongside doughnuts, they sell imported American goods - everything from Pop-Tarts to Starbucks Frappucinos. The world moves so quickly now, but I do believe that it is still real and it is still possible. At 35, Ngoy had already climbed out of poverty and into privilege once. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy) was born into a poor Cambodian family in 1942. The Donut King was directed by Alice Gu, and is her first feature film. 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. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? The donut business isnt easy. , to name a few outlets), but Alice Gu is the first to put it on film. Even in gambling. War erupted in 1970. After setting up a sweet shop of his own, he helped fellow . Your tax-deductible financial support keeps our stories free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. 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. The whole community banded together and they all agreed to sell him out of donuts every morning by 9 a.m. A week later, Suganthini wrote back, and the two began a secret correspondence. Suganthini and her mother heard the music. 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. It's something Ted feels a bit bad about. Money, doughnuts, sleep.. One night, he saw Suganthini on her balcony, and decided it was time to make his move. Using his Republican Party connections, Ngoy successfully lobbied the U.S. for most-favored-nation trade status for Cambodia in 1995, helping create a modern garment industry and thousands of jobs. Then Ngoy would fly to Las Vegas without telling her, sometimes staying as long as a week. I'm not famous. 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 importantly, the trip allowed him to mend relations with Christy, who has now remarried, and with their grown-up children. He took a real estate class but said he couldnt retain the details. Theres this portion in the film that goes into Ted and his ex-wife Christys experiences in Orange County during the 70s. These are kids who are American educated. Along with thousands of other Cambodian refugees, the Ngoys ended up at Camp Pendleton. "It was a different take on a refugee story,". And she let me in to take a shower. 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. Interestingly, largely because of Democratic policy we got a grant for our camera and it came from this girl, who was the daughter of Vietnamese refugees who landed in Arkansas. "Cambodian people owe them a lot.". When he couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. But he admits he was also aware that conquering Suganthini's heart held out the promise of a better life. 60? One involves reggae and another focuses on Puerto Rican musicians. Ngoy would open more shops and lease them to fellow refugees. 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. He woke her up and she was about to scream for help, when she realised it was her classmate. , chronicles Ngoy's thrill-of-victory/agony-of-defeat rollercoaster ride through the American Dream immigration, capitalism, history, hubris, romance, addiction, family and food. In 1985, he and Suganthini became U.S. citizens. In the end, filming the documentary was a healing experience for Ted. Ngoy ended his political career abruptly in 2002, breaking with two powerful allies, the commerce minister and the head of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce. On Sundays he would go to the church where her son was the pastor and join in Bible studies. So, I just did it. While Ted was immersed in Cambodian politics, Christy flew to the US for the birth of a grandchild. Every evening, he sat by his open window and played the flute. "I spent about $100,000 of my own money, my time, my everything," he says. When he lost big, he would sign the stores over to them. Then I went to America, Ngoy said, and created the doughnut world.. His doughnut fortune was almost gone. Ted now had a new passion - politics. While he was recovering in hospital, Suganthini also made an attempt on her life. The rise & fall of The Donut King. "Don't worry, I will hide under your bed," said Ted. Some of his relationships didnt end well. That really broke the ice for us. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. The Donut King: Directed by Alice Gu. The couple and their three toddlers arrived penniless at Camp Pendleton, part of the first wave of Cambodian refugees. Hes friends with Dana Rohrabacher. He began placing bets with Cambodian bookies on football and basketball games. Los Angeles Times Boozy Dole Whips. After earning a communications degree at UC San Diego, Tao worked for a while at a news station but wasn't enthused about that career path. They cried and prayed for the family they had left behind. [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." [5] Upon looking into the matter, she learned about Ted Ngoy and became fascinated with the topic. "I came back to L.A. and I didn't know that I was going to create this crazy explosion in the business. Today, at 62, the doughnut king is broke, homeless and dependent on the goodwill of his few remaining friends. "We were happy - until the gambling came to wreck my life. Their youngest son Chris drove them there to pick up the money - but it went horribly wrong. I say, Ted I dont think its that easy at all. And hell respond, Ive been rich three times. Filmmaker Alice Gu (left) poses with Mayly Tao outside DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. Gambling is a devil. 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. Ted was the consummate schmoozer and salesman. He wanted to be with her, but he had no one else to manage the shop. Alice found it hard to persuade Ted to return to California for filming. Once, he was a poor boy who carried away one of Cambodias wealthiest daughters. He was a fraud, he said. Also Jerry Brown, who weve seen in California as our beacon of hope and morality, in 1975 was actually the opposite. On the porch of a friends mobile home in Long Beach, the Cambodian doughnut king falls asleep each night shivering. It was really wonderful. in San Clemente and, of course, DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. In our very first phone call, he asked if I was American and I told him that I was Chinese American. In 1990, after disappearing for another disastrous trip to Las Vegas, he flew to Washington, D.C., and joined a Buddhist monastery. Everybody cry," he said. 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. Still homeless, he moved to the coastal town of Kep, on the Gulf of Thailand. Interviews can sometimes feel like a therapy session. When Christy returned to California for the birthday of a grandchild in 1999, Ngoy met a young woman and brought her to live in his house. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, and the Cambodian genocide began. The Ngoys helped hundreds of refugees find housing and apply for Social Security cards. But with great riches come great temptations. One night, during his shift at a gas station, the scent of freshly baked goods wafted toward him. I said, 'Because it's incredible, for one. "I never back down. Los Angeles Times Gu didn't know about any of that before she started developing this project. He landed in LA with less than $100 in his pocket - all the money he had left. The following month, US President Gerald Ford insisted the US should welcome 130,000 refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia, telling any critics: "We're a country built by immigrants from all areas of the world, and we've always been a very humanitarian nation.". He said hes Chinese Cambodian and we spoke Mandarin for a couple of minutes. 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And then I hate the gambling and then I hate that I treat Christy so badly, treat my children so badly, because of the gambling, so I hate myself," he says. When he was unable to pay back his debt, he would sign over his store to them. And he said he saw her heart break before his very eyes. What new information did you learn in the making of the film?There was a lot that was new to me. He began to disappear off to Las Vegas for days, losing $5,000, $7,000 a game, and neglecting his family and his doughnut empire. Gu's documentary, Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. To think about what Ted did years ago letting bygones be bygones. The Cambodians worked hard and because the whole family pitched in, they did not have to pay out any wages. In 1993 Ted and Christy moved back to Cambodia. When you first reached out to Ted, it was a cold call. I think thats the American way the power of connections and people. He has to start a new life.. Ted did try to curb his habit. He says his gambling is under control -- though he has no money with which to test this will power. Cambodia was having its first democratic elections since the war and he wanted to stand for office to help rebuild his country. [5] I dont know who I am right now, he said. 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. Once, he was a millionaire who met three U.S. presidents. The first few times he and Christy visited, on early family holidays, everything went well: they watched a magic show, they saw Elvis perform. When there was an overrun of pink doughnut boxes Ted bought them cut-price, and the pink boxes became his trademark. He borrowed money from relatives who had leased his doughnut shops. 2023 BBC. Faced with such determination, her family allowed the young lovers to be together. TED NGOY HAD an unrelenting obsession during his 1975 plane ride from Southeast Asia to Southern California. Something else about Orange County that I found so beautiful and touching while we were making this film, there was a man who owned a donut shop in Seal Beach and his wife was stricken with cancer. This is my own speculation, but it seemed like he had come to some peace with his dad and childhood. 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. Perpetually in need of cash, he'd ask the people running his donut shops for loans. I told him that he has a story to tell. The son of a peddler had no chance with such a girl, no right even to think of loving her. Ted and a lot of the Asians who came aligned themselves with the Republican party. Eventually, her parents discovered Ngoy and threw him out. But while she was gone Ted had an affair. More land deals followed and he has now worked his way back to being a millionaire. In 1975, Ngoy fled the Khmer Rouge with his wife and three . Gu first needed to find Ted Ngoy but she had no idea how to do it. He returned to a refugee community in transition. Her father was a high-ranking government official. Still penniless, after nearly four years of exile, Ted flew back to Cambodia. Where are they now?. Read about our approach to external linking. Suganthinis father ran out from hiding and called an ambulance. In this condensed and edited conversation, Gu talks about the American dream, Cambodian American Republicans, 1970s Orange County and the best donut she ate during filming. 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.". 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. She would drive there with her youngest son and go from hotel to hotel looking for him. On Sundays, he attends Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach. But Alice Gu ( left ) poses with Mayly Tao outside DK 's Donuts in Santa Monica take on marine. 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