It was here that Ngoy had his first taste of gambling while placing bets at the Blackjack tables. He writes about his extraordinary journey. [8], Military Career and Immigration to the United States, Last edited on 30 November 2020, at 09:04, "Rise and fall of Cambodian refugee 'Donut King' charted in award-winning film", http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jan/19/local/me-donutking19, "The story of the man they called the doughnut king", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ted_Ngoy&oldid=991486239, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 30 November 2020, at 09:04. Ted Ngoy Realty, Kompot Chhuk, Kampong Thum, Cambodia. He soon desired to open his own donut shop. At his peak, Ngoy owned 65 shops and his wealth was estimated at US$20 million. 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. 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. And I thought, “How could that be?” He’s passed away now so I can’t talk to him about it, but it was a learning experience for me about my parents’ relationship with politics. Less than a decade later, he was a multimillionaire at the helm of an unlikely empire of independent donut shops that continue to dominate the west coast and fend off advances by large chains such as Dunkin’ Donuts. Ngoy lived in a small attic apartment a couple blocks away from the Khoeun mansion and would play flute music at night to woo Suganthini. I called her when I found out and asked if she knew about Ford and Brown. [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. Like everyone else, Orange County Asian Americans have struggled to adjust to the new reality brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Ngoy would often visit Las Vegas for a period of a week, unbeknownst to his wife. TimesOC’s e-newspaper includes all six pages of Sunday’s coverage of Orange County. He didn’t want to build a brand. The two eventually began a secret correspondence via letters delivered by the Khoeun family maid. And it was actually a donut that I refused at first from Mayly Tao, the Donut Princess. What drew you to Ted’s story at the start?Finding out about his story, it’s fascinating — a guy who comes here penniless and becomes a Donut King. "[1] In 1977, the Ngoys took a trip to Las Vegas where Ted saw Elvis Presley. Ted Ngoy was born in the Cambodian village of Sisophon near the country's border with Thailand. He hosted Dan Quayle and Pete Wilson at his house. [1], When his wife returned to California for the birthday of a grandchild in 1999, Ngoy began an affair with a young woman, serving as the final straw between him and his wife, Christy. He is working in real estate. The same goes for if you’ve been to California and tasted a donut from one of the many shops owned by many other Cambodian refugees like Ngoy, who have proven over time to be a top competitor with the likes of Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks. In our very first phone call, he asked if I was American and I told him that I was Chinese American. There’s so much competition. The king of the title, Ted Ngoy, was named Bun Tek Ngoy when he arrived in California in 1975, a refugee separated from his family. He’s really funny. The film follows an immigrant tale of the American dream through Bun Tek “Ted” Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee whose charmed life is full of war, romance, entrepreneurship, racism and a caution about greed. Handout So, there are holes in this doughnut story. Ted Ngoy was born in the Cambodian village of Sisophon near the country's border with Thailand. The Khoeuns immediately sent for an ambulance for Ngoy and had Suganthini locked in her room for days following the event. Upon deeper glance, it was so personal for me. Ted Ngoy. Designers Andrew Hem and Charlie Le were awarded a SWSW Film special jury recognition for their poster design of “The Donut King” in 2020. For a year and a half, I struggled with how I was going to get access to that Mission Viejo mansion. Ngoy spent a total of 45 days in the mansion before being discovered by Suganthini's parents and subsequently kicked out. Tell me more about how they connected to the local community.Ted came in the 70s and it was quite homogeneously white in Orange County at the time and a lot of people had never seen an Asian person, much less heard of a place called Cambodia. Search Search Microsoft.com. 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 Trump’s rhetoric. I can’t 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 hadn’t confronted in many years, it was very healing. Photo: Los Angeles Times … Some of his relationships didn’t end well. He lost everything and had to start from scratch. and California landscape with a familiar coat — yellow strip mall signs with red lettering reading Christy’s Donuts. I told him that he has a story to tell. She served brief stints as a city reporter for the Daily Pilot and an education reporter for the Burbank Leader and Glendale News-Press. Then he opened his first independent shop in La Habra, eventually covering the rest of O.C. To understand the politics, the Republican party at the time was a very anticommunist party. [1], In 2013, he was living in Phnom Penh working in the real estate business. How Ted Ngoy Jumpstarted the Cambodian Donut Shop Business In an article titled, How One Cambodian Refugee Started Southern California’s Donut Empire, author Gowri Chandra discussed how Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy, immigrated with his family to San Diego, California, and changed the donut industry forever. [3], Ngoy worked at various jobs, including as a travel agent and tour guide, before joining the military in 1970. The couple were wed shortly after and had three children. Somewhere along the line, things shifted. Christy was in the front and made a lot of inroads with the community and built a lot of bridges. We had an instant connection and it felt like we were meant to be doing this story together. 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. He is nicknamed the "Donut King." The Donut King who went full circle – from rags to richesIf you walk into a doughnut I’ve also never built an empire of donut shops, been wealthy, or rubbed shoulders with people with political influence. UC Irvine developing vaccine that targets all coronaviruses. Ngoy had little ego in the game; he didn’t care if his donut shops were easily identifiable as his. And she said she knew a lot of people in her parents’ generation who are lifelong Republicans and that’s why they hate the Democratic party. Vera Castaneda is a writer who has worked at the Los Angeles Times since 2016. Ngoy and his family enjoyed the fruits of their labor and at one point moved into a 7,000-square-foot mansion in Mission Viejo. [5] Ngoy built a vast donut shop empire across California and it started in 1970s Orange County. In … He dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. 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. Ted sponsored hundreds of visas for incoming refugees and helped them get on their feet teaching them the ways of the donut business. By 1980, Ted Ngoy owned 20 Christy’s shops in Southern California. How O.C. UC Irvine library highlights materials from I-Ching to Astro Boy in its East Asian Collection. After cry, go back gambling." By 1990, the ‘doughnut king’ was reported to be in the grips of a serious gambling habit. [1], After a particularly devastating gambling loss in 1990, Ngoy flew to Washington, D.C. and joined a Buddhist monastery where he spent a month meditating. I ended up not sharing that donut. It was hurtful. What new information did you learn in the making of the film?There was a lot that was new to me. This caused tension in the Ngoy household, being the center of many arguments between Ngoy and his wife. When he was unable to pay back his debt, he would sign over his store to them. He formed the Free Development Republican Party ahead of the country’s UN-backed elections believing that he could show others the path to wealth and hoping that in being a politician his gambling addiction would be stymied. Ted is the first Cambodian refugee to start a donut shop in California. Virtual town hall addresses COVID-19 vaccine concerns in O.C.’s Asian American community. Bush and encouraged fellow Cambodian immigrants to support the GOP. These are kids who are American educated. [2], In 1967, Ngoy was sent by his mother to study in the capital, Phnom Penh, where he fell in love with Suganthini Khoeun, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. This is an incredible story of how he helped people. They’re savvy, young, hip. Ted's son Christy Ngoy tells a story about the disappearance of a paper bag full of $85,000 while his father was in police custody. Ted Ngoy once owned a huge chain of doughnut shops across the US state of California and was known as “The Donut King”. To think about what Ted did years ago — letting bygones be bygones. He would forge her signature on checks and even borrow money from relatives who leased stores from him. They have social media and know how to work it to innovate their parents’ old donut shops with a worldwide following. 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. EN - English; ES - Español I think that’s the American way — the power of connections and people. [6][3], Ngoy bought additional doughnut shops in Orange County. Ted Ngoy "The Donut King" Interview by Isabelle Cheam at Cambodia Town Culture Festival on April 8th, 2018. Suganthini's parents and cousins hid behind curtains in the home to ensure Ngoy would break off the relationship. Upon his return to Orange County, Ngoy began gambling harder than ever stating "Monks cannot help me, Buddha cannot help me. While working a second job at a gas station, Ngoy took notice of a busy local doughnut shop and inquired of its operators about learning the business. By 1977 he was able to purchase his first doughnut shop, Christy's Donuts, in La Habra. nonprofits have responded to the impact of COVID-19 on Asian American seniors and business owners. The donut business isn’t easy. Literary Arts Festival spotlights local and visiting artists of color. TimesOC e-Newspaper: Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. His secret: hard work in the extreme, a willingness to learn, and sheer determination. She’s currently a features reporter for TimesOC where she covers art, books, entertainment, trends and cultural issues related to Orange County. Santa Ana’s LibroMobile will host its third Literary Arts Festival on Jan. 23 through Instagram. I’ve never experienced hunger, war, fear, served in an army, or had a wet and cold bed to sleep in. She divorced him soon after and has not since returned to Cambodia. 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. Ted was dismayed. He suggested that Ted hang out in the back and to put Christy in the front. Also Jerry Brown, who we’ve seen in California as our beacon of hope and morality, in 1975 was actually the opposite. 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. After several years of hard work, the family took their first holiday and they went to Las Vegas. The next day, he flew back to Los Angeles leaving behind his new wife and their two children. He became tired running doughnut shops on his own and decided to train and lease shops to his relatives and employ Cambodian refugees. I’m also, again, the daughter of Chinese American immigrants and my dad was a big Republican party supporter. 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. He said he’s Chinese Cambodian and we spoke Mandarin for a couple of minutes. 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. Doing this film was really an exploration for me of understanding where you come from. I’m Chinese American. She grew up in Boyle Heights and graduated from Cal State Northridge with a bachelor’s in literature and a minor in journalism. When he found one, he would sit out front in his car for hours, drinking coffee and tallying customers. Also, significantly for Ngoy, other Cambodian refugees and their children — donuts. The Donut King: The Rags to Riches Story of a Poor Immigrant Who Changed the World (English Edition) eBook: Ngoy, Ted: Amazon.de: Kindle-Shop She got her start as an editorial assistant delivering mail and newspapers. What was surprising for me was watching Ted, a Republican, pictured with Pete Wilson at one point in the film since Wilson supported laws that hurt immigrants.It’s wild. What is Ted up to in Cambodia nowadays?Ted is doing well. That is because I had a buttermilk bar about 30 seconds out of the fryer with fresh glaze on it. He is wealthy again. When he was working in the donut shop, he went to his sponsor and said he was having a hard time. Despite her sheltered life and being forbidden from having friends or leaving the house other than for school, Suganthini fell in love. He not only made a success of himself; he shared his good fortune with scores of relatives and friends. Then he lost it all. People made fun of his accent. I ate the whole thing. Ngoy … A day before he left, his eldest son said if you have $3.2 million you can buy it. The proclaimed 'Donut King' taught his family how to build and sustain a business. Then things were thriving. It was a strategy that ended up working for them. We were taxed to the hilt, unemployment was high and he was very reluctant to give refugees a home here when Californians were out of work. Ted had met Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., [Richard] Nixon. Ted Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy; 1942) is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of doughnut shops in California. 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