By 1976, Ted had saved up enough money to buy his own shop, which he named Christy's. 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. Gambling is a devil. Their fairy tale romance is so distant, she said, its as if it happened to someone else. 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. Cambodia was poor and under-developed after years of war. People made fun of his accent. This 2020s documentary film-related article is a stub. Then when dinner is ready, she knocks on the door and I open the door to have dinner.". Her daughter, Mayly Tao, has taken over the reigns of DK's. I have to go to school.". In saffron robes and shaved head, the doughnut king spent a month meditating. Although there is still some resentment towards him in the Cambodian community, whose hard-earned cash he gambled away, he is also revered by many. After a little research, Gu discovered that a huge number of California's independent donut shops, maybe 80-90%, are owned by Cambodian Americans, mostly thanks to Ngoy. When there was an overrun of pink doughnut boxes Ted bought them cut-price, and the pink boxes became his trademark. 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. 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. When you first reached out to Ted, it was a cold call. Besides, he reasoned, as a politician he would not be able to gamble. Doughnut revenue put their children through college. It led many voters to assume, incorrectly, that he was against Cambodia's royal family, and he didn't win a seat. Perpetually in need of cash, he'd ask the people running his donut shops for loans. Don't die. He slept under the bed and hid when the maids came to clean. But with great riches come great temptations. He had to guess which room was hers. It took longer than 40 years. He joined Gamblers Anonymous but was back at the tables in no time. Christy's parents said they would let Ted live if he told Christy that he was a dog who had romanced other girls and had never loved her. So, I just did it. 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. Im also, again, the daughter of Chinese American immigrants and my dad was a big Republican party supporter. Here's Why It's Especially Dangerous To Hike SoCal Mountains Right Now, How 4 Words Upended A University's Journalism Program, And Stirred A Reckoning Over Race, What A Popular Yoga Teacher's Descent Into Conspiracy Theories Says About The 'Wellness To QAnon Pipeline', Ancient Lung Disease Strikes Countertop Cutters In LA. Director Alice Gu makes her film debut with The Donut King, following the life of Ted Ngoy. A bank had foreclosed on his mansion on Lake Mission Viejo. "What happens if I decide to jump into your room?" After a civil war broke out and Phnom Penh fell to the communist Khmer. in Santa Monica. On Sundays he would go to the church where her son was the pastor and join in Bible studies. Ted soon got a job working at Winchell's, which was then the dominant donut chain on the West Coast. [5] By 1977 he was able to purchase his first doughnut shop, Christy's Donuts, in La Habra. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment). By 2002 Ted was broke. He hired his wife and nephew. Ted wrote one day. I always thought of it as a Plan B to come back and now, it has become the Plan A and more," Tao says. But I still win. If you can dream it, they're probably mixing it somewhere on property. 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. 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? They made a blood pact, promising to be forever faithful. No political life, no religious life, just work, work, he said. 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. He has found his way to be wealthy again. At 35, Ngoy had already climbed out of poverty and into privilege once. (Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment) When you first reached out to Ted, it. There were some hurt relationships. I just first hurt my wife, Christy, my children and hurt many, many other people, too, because, when we needed money. While he was recovering in hospital, Suganthini also made an attempt on her life. "[9] In a mixed review, Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail said the film is "well worth watching" while saying there "are holes in this doughnut story. At a news conference, he dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. One of the tricks he learned was to bake doughnuts in small batches throughout the day to keep them fresh - and because the smell of baking was the best form of advertising. War erupted in 1970. 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. Los Angeles Times But the situation at home was increasingly dangerous and on his last trip, in April 1975, the capital fell. Aside from what About 30 Christys Doughnuts were still in operation, as were hundreds of other Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. [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. According to Tao, the servants caught on to Ted's presence after a few days but didn't say anything. He borrowed money from relatives who had leased his doughnut shops. Over the years, Ted and Christy sponsored more than 100 families, often hosting them before setting them up with homes, loans, and doughnut shops. 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. [5], The film received 69/100 on Metacritic, receiving "generally favorable reviews. I was addicted to a feeling, and money was simply the needle that delivered the toxic dose," he writes in his autobiography, also called The Donut King. He woke her up and she was about to scream for help, when she realised it was her classmate. And he said he saw her heart break before his very eyes. The Cambodians worked hard and because the whole family pitched in, they did not have to pay out any wages. "You can't find any prettier woman besides her.". Every evening, he sat by his open window and played the flute. [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. At school, Ngoy fell in love from afar with a beautiful girl. Suganthini and her mother heard the music. All that money paid for expensive clothes, luxury cars, fancy trips and an opulent home in Mission Viejo. From the wall, he leaped onto the roof and crawled through an open window. Ted Ngoy: Well, when I was in a high school in a French school, my wife's Suganthini. More and more relatives came forward for sponsorship. Ted Ngoy was born in Sisophon, Cambodia. In our very first phone call, he asked if I was American and I told him that I was Chinese American. He has to start a new life.. Gambling is a devil. 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. His doughnut fortune was almost gone. Doughnuts offered an escape from years of welfare dependency. Beautiful views aren't the only thing drawing Angelenos to the region. "I learned to bake, to take care of payroll, cleaning, sales - everything," he says. "a short-lived comeback in Sacramento in 2002," the Massachusetts-based company didn't return to the Golden State In less than two years, while working on other jobs and projects, Gu directed and shot the 94-minute documentary. He dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. Eventually, her parents discovered Ngoy and threw him out. The doughnut king landed at LAX with $50 in his pocket. The Donut King is a 2020 American documentary film which tells the life story of California donut shop owner Ted Ngoy. He was bleeding out and her parents were like, 'Oh, God. Yes, you read that right. 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. His story has been told through different angles in a couple of articles. In 1975, Ngoy fled the Khmer Rouge with his wife and three children to Camp Pendleton. As far as the immigrant experience and my parents what it really did for me is open my eyes and I just cut them some slack about growing up here in conflict with wanting to be an American kid and their Chinese ways of raising me. A daughter owns a 1950s-style hamburger restaurant in Orange County. They saw Elvis Presley perform, and Ted played a little blackjack. People love her and shes beautiful. Ted worked as the church janitor but he soon realised earning $500 a month wouldn't be enough to support his family. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted, because of the many Cambodian immigrants he'd sponsored. She belonged to a high ranking officer, you know like a princess in Cambodia, very rich and very powerful family. Each morning, he walked with the monks, begging for food from peasants, crying as the rocky roads tore at his bare feet. 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. He suggested that Ted hang out in the back and to put Christy in the front. in San Clemente and, of course, DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. 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. I just want to create as many as I can, he said. Why are we still having these debates? To Christy, this was the final betrayal. Ngoy wrote to her. "They're a good company and I owe them gratitude," Ted says. Before sunrise, they would climb back into her room. "I'd want [people] to know about not only the journey of the donut itself but the story of the people behind it, the people making the donuts," Tao says. Did working on this film change or contribute to your perspective of the American dream or immigrant stories?It seems like these days the American dream is harder and harder to attain. His family didn't want to see him, and nobody offered him work, not even baking doughnuts. At loose ends, she returned to Los Angeles and, once again, started helping with the family business. He shaved his head and spent three months barefoot in Thailand, coming back emaciated and a changed man - or so he thought. Ted, who spoke four languages, was offered a post as liaison officer in Thailand by Suganthini's brother-in-law, Gen Sak Sutsakhan.