Everybody went to the gold mine, Ngoy said. in San Clemente and, of course, DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. Upon deeper glance, it was so personal for me. Hes also a sign of Mexicos healthcare crisis, Black residents of Jackson, Miss., blast plans by white-dominated Legislature for more state control, Spain approves menstrual leave, teen abortion and trans laws. What new information did you learn in the making of the film?There was a lot that was new to me. [7][3], Ngoy's fortunes improved dramatically, such that by the mid-1980s Ngoy had amassed millions of dollars through his expanding doughnut shop empire, reported as 50 locations throughout California. Yes, you read that right. Ngoy bought his first doughnut. An immigrant story with a (glazed) twist, The Donut King follows the journey of Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy, who arrived in California in the 1970s and, through a mixture of diligence and. Gab Chabrn reflects on growing up in L.A. in a Latino home that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving and the traditions they formed instead. In saffron robes and shaved head, the doughnut king spent a month meditating. Eventually he and Christy were left with just one doughnut shop, which they decided to sell. He left behind his new wife and their two children, and what he had seen as his last chance at redemption. The film details how Ngoy fled Cambodia with his family during the Vietnam War and later went on to build a donut shop empire, only to lose it all because of a gambling addiction. Some of those he borrowed from were the people he had leased doughnut shops to. 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 says his gambling is under control -- though he has no money with which to test this will power. Never surrender. Ngoy tried Gamblers Anonymous. . Cambodia was planning its first elections in 1993, and well-to-do emigres from California were returning to run for office. Im also, again, the daughter of Chinese American immigrants and my dad was a big Republican party supporter. 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. Tell us about your wife. While Ted was immersed in Cambodian politics, Christy flew to the US for the birth of a grandchild. [2], In 1967, Ngoy was sent by his mother to study in the capital, Phnom Penh, where he met and married Suganthini Khoeun, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. I just first hurt my wife, Christy, my children and hurt many, many other people, too, because, when we needed money. 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.". They barely talked to him. 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. He believed he could show others the path to wealth and opportunity. Streaming now on PBS. Your Guide To Everything Boozy You Can Order, A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth. "It made me homesick," says Ted. (Elina Shatkin/LAist). His gesture went unreciprocated for days. Despite his success, he said, he felt unhappy and isolated. [6][3], Ngoy bought additional doughnut shops in Orange County. They saved money where they could, even washing and reusing coffee stirrers - until they were reprimanded by Winchell's. One night under a full moon, they knelt and prayed. Those are the sounds of a man in love, her mother said. Ngoy would open more shops and lease them to fellow refugees. They arranged a meeting for the couple at a relatives house, where Ngoy was expected to formally end their romance. Dear reader, we're asking you to help us keep local news available for all. The ubiquity and low overhead of these Cambodian mom-and-pop donut shops helped drive Dunkin' Donuts out of California in the late '90s. And then we started communicating, bringing back and forth the messages," Ted says. and "I became a very, very bad man and borrowed money here and there," he says. The couple had flash cars, bought a million-dollar mansion with a pool and an elevator, and went on holidays abroad. Ted Ngoy in The Donut King documentary. Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. Over the years, he says he sponsored more than 100 Cambodian families that wanted to come to the U.S. "Well, it is because I've fallen in love with you," Ted replied. On one of his Las Vegas trips, Ngoy took up gambling. It was love at first bite. No days off. 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. 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. "Before I'd never gambled, but like all the compulsive gamblers in the world, first you throw in a couple of bucks, $10, $20. It led many voters to assume, incorrectly, that he was against Cambodia's royal family, and he didn't win a seat. 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. Gu realized his story was also an epic romance. According to Tao, the servants caught on to Ted's presence after a few days but didn't say anything. Cambodia was having its first democratic elections since the war and he wanted to stand for office to help rebuild his country. With Chuong Pek Lee, Susan Lim, Ted Ngoy, Daewon Song. Perpetually in need of cash, he'd ask the people running his donut shops for loans. "It was a different take on a refugee story,". He had to guess which room was hers. Tao did everything in her power to help Gu. I go to borrow. He also apologised to many of those he hurt. "[10], Whittaker said that "as Asian Americans face increasing racism, its closing message about how immigrant communitiesdefine America has only become more timely."[8]. Some of his relationships didnt end well. Over four years nearly two million Cambodians were either executed, or died of starvation, disease and overwork. Then, after falling out with a powerful political rival he feared for his life and fled to the US. Soon, Cambodians began copying the Ted Ngoy business model. Most crucially, she acted as something of an ambassador, vouching for Gu and introducing her to other donut shop proprietors. 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. By 1987, Ngoy owned 32 Christy's Donuts locations, largely accomplished by living out of a motorhome allowing him and his family to travel up and down the state of California establishing new locations. "I achieved my American dream," Ted says. Ted encouraged others to do the same. He turned down a job as a security guard because it required standing for eight hours. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). Ted managed to escape on the last flight out of Phnom Penh but Suganthini's parents were left behind. [8], After Cambodia's establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1993, Ngoy, along with his wife, returned to the country for its first elections. After a year of running two shops they had saved $40,000 and Ted decided to expand. He also figured that as a prominent politician, he would be forced to control his gambling habit. Ted Ngoy: Well, when I was in a high school in a French school, my wife's Suganthini. In return, he played their tables and lost thousands of dollars. "But many of them were not related, they just lived in the same village or heard of my name. Ngoy attempted Gamblers Anonymous, but denied it helped with his situation, stating that when he went to meetings "I cry, everybody cry. Christy Ngoy now owns a Peruvian restaurant in Irvine. Designers Andrew Hem and Charlie Le were awarded a SWSW Film special jury recognition for their poster design of The Donut King in 2020. Okay, you guys can' It was a whole Romeo and Juliet story," Gu says. I ended up not sharing that donut. Ngoy built a vast donut shop empire across California and it started in 1970s Orange County. Christys Doughnuts in La Habra never did great business. Ngoy wrote to her. Her father was a high-ranking government official. Ted, who spoke four languages, was offered a post as liaison officer in Thailand by Suganthini's brother-in-law, Gen Sak Sutsakhan. Even in gambling. "I came back to L.A. and I didn't know that I was going to create this crazy explosion in the business. At 16, she had no friends, could not talk to boys and was forbidden to leave home alone. He remarried and had four more children - the youngest two are still at school. In less than two years, while working on other jobs and projects, Gu directed and shot the 94-minute documentary. Working all hours, Ted and Christy knew very little about what was happening back home in Cambodia, but what they heard was bad. Ted was a poor boy from a poor family while Christy was the daughter of a high-ranking official. She became Christy. But one night, he had an idea. After a civil war broke out and Phnom Penh fell to the communist Khmer. To understand the politics, the Republican party at the time was a very anticommunist party. 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. Alice found it hard to persuade Ted to return to California for filming. The entire family Christy and the three kids worked alongside him. Now, he is in real estate development," Gu says. He woke her up and she was about to scream for help, when she realised it was her classmate. Maybe Its Time To Raise Backyard Chickens, Catch A Wave In The Booming South Bay Food Scene: Here Are 11 New Restaurants To Try, Don't Celebrate Thanksgiving? ", Alice Gu's documentary, 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 (produced by Maryam Maruf), Ted Ngoy's autobiography is called The Donut King: the rags to riches story of a poor immigrant that changed the world. That was super mind blowing for me to hear the political flip-flop and really insightful about another time when politics were more civil and there could be discussion. Near the station was a doughnut shop. Monks cannot help me, he said. Distraught, she took an overdose of sleeping pills and fell into a coma. 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. He has converted to Christianity, he said, and prays often, asking God for help. in Santa Monica. "That's why I want to tell the world, 'Do not gamble.' In 1990, after disappearing for another disastrous trip to Las Vegas, he flew to Washington, D.C., and joined a Buddhist monastery. 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. 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? And that's what he did. 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