ted ngoy second wife

The doughnut king landed at LAX with $50 in his pocket. To Christy, this was the final betrayal. When he lost he would lash out, smashing doors, breaking furniture and frightening the children. The family also still had the Winchell's so now they had two stores to run. 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. Still penniless, after nearly four years of exile, Ted flew back to Cambodia. Money, doughnuts, sleep.. Ngoy wrote to her. Doing this film was really an exploration for me of understanding where you come from. [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. They went to Europe twice. He suggested that Ted hang out in the back and to put Christy in the front. 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 couldn't pay them back because he had gambled the money away, Ted signed away his ownership stake in those stores. After completing the company's training program, they gave him the keys to a store in Newport Beach. That phrase Donut King is already so eye-catching right off the bat. "When Alice called me, she described something that I have always wanted to tell but never thought that it would get picked up anywhere," Tao says. Ted Ngoy has become a stranger even to himself. [1], In 2013, he was living in Phnom Penh working in real estate. The Donut King is a 2020 American documentary film which tells the life story of California donut shop owner Ted Ngoy. From the wall, he leaped onto the roof and crawled through an open window. "I learned to bake, to take care of payroll, cleaning, sales - everything," he says. Over the next few years, he went back every month or so, seeing Tom Jones, Diana Ross and Wayne Newton -- and betting ever-larger sums. Ted joined the Republican Party, held fundraisers for George H.W. Ted began to look for more doughnut shops to buy and lease to fellow refugees. The family were among the many tens of thousands of . "I became a very, very bad man and borrowed money here and there," he says. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. It actually made national, if not international, news about the kindness of these people in Orange County. Then he opened his first independent shop in La Habra, eventually covering the rest of O.C. The United States alone is home to more than 25,000 donut shops and they produce more than 10 billion donuts each year. Designers Andrew Hem and Charlie Le were awarded a SWSW Film special jury recognition for their poster design of The Donut King in 2020. He said that we didnt have room for these refugees here. The details that aren't in the movie are even crazier. Until then, she was kept sheltered. She divorced him and didnt return to Cambodia. 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. One of their sons is a financial consultant; another is a computer-networking technician. Gu first needed to find Ted Ngoy but she had no idea how to do it. Ted encouraged others to do the same. I say, Ted I dont think its that easy at all. And hell respond, Ive been rich three times. Despite his success, he said, he felt unhappy and isolated. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. When you hook up with gambling, your life's finished. Ngoy had become an example to other Cambodian immigrants, who began to follow his business model for their own entrepreneurial endeavors. And he said he saw her heart break before his very eyes. But on a later trip Ted had a go on the blackjack tables, and soon he was hooked on the glamour and the adrenaline. He trained them and handed over the keys. [1], That's why I want to tell the world, "Do not gamble." Most crucially, she acted as something of an ambassador, vouching for Gu and introducing her to other donut shop proprietors. The family members worked 17 hours a day and saved for a year. Then, after falling out with a powerful political rival he feared for his life and fled to the US. Ngoy is Cambodian and he was in Phnom Penh when it fell. Phnom Penh Post "New documentary 'The Donut King' follows Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy's journey to multi-million dollar empire", "Review: A Shakespearean SoCal tragedy, 'The Donut King' charts the rise and fall of Ted Ngoy", "Director Alice Gu Wants You to Meet The Donut King", "The Donut King who went full circle - from rags to riches, twice", "Review: The Donut King, a sweet documentary that doesn't tell the hole truth", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Donut_King&oldid=1131760803, This page was last edited on 5 January 2023, at 16:51. 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. , the At the end, I win. He said hes Chinese Cambodian and we spoke Mandarin for a couple of minutes. The Donut King Ted became their first South East Asian trainee. "[7] In a positive review, Richard Whittaker with The Austin Chronicle said that "Gu does stellar work compiling and constructing Ngoys life story through interviews and archive and contemporary footage," and added "the animation sequences by Chapeau Studios and 1881 Animation that make the perfect drizzle of icing. Working all hours, Ted and Christy knew very little about what was happening back home in Cambodia, but what they heard was bad. When people know about the bad reputation, people are not going to vote for me. , chronicles Ngoy's thrill-of-victory/agony-of-defeat rollercoaster ride through the American Dream immigration, capitalism, history, hubris, romance, addiction, family and food. The Ngoys drove a motor home around California, opening shops in Los Angeles, Modesto, Fresno, San Jose, the Bay Area city of Brisbane, Sacramento and San Diego. She would forgive him when he promised to stop, and he would -- for a while. The Donut King Ted Ngoy is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of donut shops in California, earning him the nickname the "Donut King." . And then we started communicating, bringing back and forth the messages," Ted says. "It is the purest form of risk-taking, the distilled anxiety and thrill behind every business decision and bold declaration of love," he writes in his autobiography. The couple had flash cars, bought a million-dollar mansion with a pool and an elevator, and went on holidays abroad. In the end, filming the documentary was a healing experience for Ted. When they were released, the cash was gone. [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. They were moving their capital and know-how into liquor stores, markets and fast-food restaurants. 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. Eventually Cambodians owned so many doughnut shops in California that they dominated the market, pushing Winchell's into second place. "Ultimately, this is a story of a guy who came to the country with nothing, and with some hustle, and dreams, and a little luck, really made quite a charmed life for himself.". As many as I could.". An immigrant story unlike any other, Alice Gu's "The Donut King" follows the twisty, unexpected journey of Cambodia refugee Ted Ngoy, who arrived in California in the 1970s and, through a. 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. They saw Elvis Presley perform, and Ted played a little blackjack. "I had true love for her.". They pricked their fingers and squeezed drops of blood into a cup of water. When he completed his three-month training, Winchell's gave him a shop to run on Balboa Pier, a tourist spot on the Newport peninsula not far from Tustin. But then one of Suganthini's servants appeared at his door with a reply. "If I need to shower, I knock on the door, 'Lady can I take a shower?' "Well, it is because I've fallen in love with you," Ted replied. The whole community banded together and they all agreed to sell him out of donuts every morning by 9 a.m. It was small amounts first but he was soon blowing bigger figures and he couldn't seem to stop. Eventually he and Christy were left with just one doughnut shop, which they decided to sell. and Ted Ngoy was born in Sisophon, Cambodia. According to Gu, Christy's family brought her into the room and Ted started reciting his speech. . His story has been told through different angles in a couple of articles. Because of the Ngoys, a Cambodian refugees first American job was often in a doughnut shop. In 1978 Vietnamese troops invaded and in 1979 Pol Pot was overthrown, leading to another wave of Cambodian refugees. How to get the best eggs in town without leaving your yard. 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? Over the years, he says he sponsored more than 100 Cambodian families that wanted to come to the U.S. Ted managed to escape on the last flight out of Phnom Penh but Suganthini's parents were left behind. Then he would return to Vegas in an attempt to win back what he had lost. 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. He would have no more donuts to sell so he could be with his wife for the rest of the day. According to Tao, the servants caught on to Ted's presence after a few days but didn't say anything. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted,. He is nicknamed the "Donut King." He is nicknamed the "Donut King." Upon deeper glance, it was so personal for me. . Suganthini was terrified, but she let the stranger stay. [8], 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. buy a ticket [5], The film received 69/100 on Metacritic, receiving "generally favorable reviews. I say, Ted, who are you? I really dont know.. I told them I'm very sorry 1,000 times. When time goes by it gets into your blood and you just cannot get it out," says Ted. Gu is working on developing a couple of music-themed film projects, both documentaries and narratives. Mismanagement, Sloppy Hiring Practices, Lack Of Transparency. Gu's documentary, He had sold what few shops remained. Ted Ngoy was reaping rewards of that success. Baby Yoda cocktails. About 30 Christys Doughnuts were still in operation, as were hundreds of other Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. Your Guide To Everything Boozy You Can Order, A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth. Suganthini's family insisted Ted break it off by telling her he didn't love her. But with great riches come great temptations. in Pasadena, None of the people Ngoy helped get started lent him a hand, he said: I trained them. [6] Gu persuaded him to and, ultimately, he regarded his return as a 'healing experience,' and his ex-wife and children have forgiven him. No days off. Christy would search for him in the casinos, the children in tow. 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. It was love at first bite. I gave her my spiel, and she said, 'Well, you've called the right person. The family were housed in a hastily erected refugee camp on a marine training base, Camp Pendleton. 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. He became Ted. Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted, because of the many Cambodian immigrants he'd sponsored. He had gotten his first taste of that passion years earlier. It was hurtful. In 1985, he and Suganthini became U.S. citizens. In order to be allowed to leave the camp and find work, they needed an American sponsor, who would find them a job and somewhere to live. Perpetually in need of cash, he'd ask the people running his donut shops for loans. 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. Ngoy became a trainee and took over a Winchell's in Newport Beach. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. It provided a path for refugees to settle and was a profitable business model. Where are they now?. I go to borrow. I ate the whole thing. Her parents and cousins hid behind curtains so they could hear him break off the relationship. When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, they knew they couldn't go home. Ted Ngoy made a fortune in doughnuts. Night after night, he watched customers come and go. You just have to see the opportunity and go for it. Those are the wise words of Ted Ngoy. "He's like, 'You know what? Faced with such determination, her family allowed the young lovers to be together. Volcanic tiki drinks. An owner could keep costs low by employing his family. He says to me, Alice, making money its so easy. After Ted revealed his presence to Christy, he hid under her bed until he was eventually discovered and her family allowed them be together. All that money paid for expensive clothes, luxury cars, fancy trips and an opulent home in Mission Viejo. But I still win. 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. He was born Bun Tek Ngoy. Instantly acquiring the rank of Major, Ted and his young family moved to Bangkok, and every month he travelled back to Cambodia to collect the wages for his soldiers. "They forgive me fully. She would drive there with her youngest son and go from hotel to hotel looking for him. Suganthini became the smiling face behind the counter, even though she hardly spoke any English. The families who followed Ngoys lead learned to run businesses and picked up English. Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. 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. Suganthini smuggled him food at night, and after many days she said she loved him too. They married and started a family, and life was good until civil war broke out in 1970, between the government and the communist Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot. I just want to create as many as I can, he said. He became tired running doughnut shops on his own and decided to train and lease shops to his relatives and employ Cambodian refugees. They arranged a meeting for the couple at a relatives house, where Ngoy was expected to formally end their romance. Where Im going, I dont know. "If I need the vote, I cannot gamble. On Sundays, he attends Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach. But he was more than well-off; he was respected. Christy has remarried and lives in Lake Forest, not far from their three adult children, who all live in Orange County. When you get to the table, youre so emotional, evil in your body, he said. You will end up destroying the whole family and no more relationship with the world, just finished. He hired his wife and nephew. She became Christy. One of them being my interview with Michael Krondl, the food historian. "They're a good company and I owe them gratitude," Ted says. The Ngoys helped hundreds of refugees find housing and apply for Social Security cards. A map of Christys Donuts, Winchells and Dunkin Donuts across California during the height of Ted Ngoys entrepreneurship in the 1970s through the 1990s. Ngoy bought his first doughnut shop from a couple who was retiring. 50? Alongside doughnuts, they sell imported American goods - everything from Pop-Tarts to Starbucks Frappucinos. He went on to marry Suganthini Khoeun, the daughter of a high-ranking government official. Their fairy tale romance is so distant, she said, its as if it happened to someone else. 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 Ngoy (born Bun Tek Ngoy; 1942) is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of doughnut shops in California. 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. "Don't worry, I will hide under your bed," said Ted. In the early 1970s, Cambodia was in the midst of a brutal civil war that displaced two million people, more than a quarter of the country's population. A new documentary chronicles the fascinating saga of Ted Ngoy, "The Donut King," who made a fortune and then lost it all to a gambling addiction. He has to start a new life.. But Cambodians were leaving the business, tired of working 17-hour days and squeezing a 13-cent profit from every 65-cent doughnut. I have to go to school.". His mother raised him in a rural village near Cambodias border with Thailand. Most importantly, the trip allowed him to mend relations with Christy, who has now remarried, and with their grown-up children. Ted Ngoy in The Donut King documentary. Even in gambling. 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. 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.". [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. Aside from what Christy was in the front and made a lot of inroads with the community and built a lot of bridges. If you can dream it, they're probably mixing it somewhere on property. Ted Ngoy is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of donut shops in California, earning him the nickname the "Donut King." While working a second job at a gas station, Ngoy took notice of a busy local donut shop and inquired of its operators about learning the business. If you're enjoying this article, you'll love my daily morning newsletter, How To LA. He was a fraud, he said. "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 was a strategy that ended up working for them. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. "[10], Whittaker said that "as Asian Americans face increasing racism, its closing message about how immigrant communitiesdefine America has only become more timely."[8]. Ngoy's epic rags-to-riches-to-rags story has been chronicled before (in the He slept under the bed and hid when the maids came to clean. They wont trust you, he said. "But many of them were not related, they just lived in the same village or heard of my name. He hosted Dan Quayle and Pete Wilson at his house. With Chuong Pek Lee, Susan Lim, Ted Ngoy, Daewon Song. He ran to the shop across the street where he bought a donut. He wrapped the note around a stone, and threw it down. The film flashes back to the horror of life in 1970s Cambodia, a tragic offshoot of the Vietnam war that eliminated thousands of lives. Ted became deeply religious. How did those scenes end up happening?I asked him to travel to California again. Two days after Gu's out-of-the-blue call to DK's Donuts, she was talking to Ngoy in Cambodia. I never loved you.' "[1], Ted Ngoy was born in the Cambodian village of Sisophon near the country's border with Thailand. Las Vegas was the new thing, he said, besides making money and making doughnuts,. At loose ends, she returned to Los Angeles and, once again, started helping with the family business. What new information did you learn in the making of the film?There was a lot that was new to me. Ted was dismayed. 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. He has converted to Christianity, he said, and prays often, asking God for help. A week later, Suganthini wrote back, and the two began a secret correspondence. And she let me in to take a shower. In the early 1990s, it was reported that California had 2,400 Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. Ngoy joined the army. Director Alice Gu makes her film debut with The Donut King, following the life of Ted Ngoy. 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. He was bleeding out and her parents were like, 'Oh, God. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Key grant funding to help O.C. You cannot resist against it.. [1], When his wife visited California for the birthday of their grandchild in 1999, Ngoy began an affair with a young woman; Christy divorced him soon after and has not since returned to Cambodia. 2023 BBC. The Donut King is a documentary directed by Alice Gu that covers the life of Ted Ngoy, one of the primary reasons behind the Cambodian American donut shop boom. Ngoy doesnt remember how many stores he started or bought -- 40? She belonged to a high ranking officer, you know like a princess in Cambodia, very rich and very powerful family. With the help of his brother-in-law, he was promoted to major and appointed military attache at the countrys embassy in Thailand. Ted now had a new passion - politics. Broke, Ted and Christy returned to Cambodia. Christy always forgave him, but word got around that Ted could no longer be trusted. [5] By 1977 he was able to purchase his first doughnut shop, Christy's Donuts, in La Habra. Soldiers and dogs guarded the mansion. His party did poorly in the 1993 and 1998 parliamentary elections, but Prime Minister Hun Sen made him an advisor on commerce and agriculture. Hard work. Chet and Savy, Ted Ngoys oldest children, sit down for an interview in The Donut King.. It really helped put some perspective on the journey to get here from somewhere else and the struggles that people go through when they arrive in a new, strange and foreign land. At a news conference, he dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. "I just wanted to raise pigs and chickens and have enough meat and eggs to take to . Still homeless, he moved to the coastal town of Kep, on the Gulf of Thailand. Once, he was a millionaire who met three U.S. presidents. But it was really the immigrant story. The Top 5 newsletter catches you up with LAs top 5 stories in just 3 minutes. He spends his evenings alone, reading the Bible. Gu says Christy's family then threatened to kill Ted but his mother made a deal with them. Ngoy would often visit Las Vegas for a period of a week, unbeknownst to his wife. 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. It smelled delicious and when he first tasted one it reminded him of something from home - a fried pastry, also circular, called nom kong. Gab Chabrn reflects on growing up in L.A. in a Latino home that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving and the traditions they formed instead. Once, he enjoyed the warmth of family and the respect of his community. Ted liked Cadillacs; Christy preferred Mercedes-Benz convertibles. He returned to a refugee community in transition. That is because I had a buttermilk bar about 30 seconds out of the fryer with fresh glaze on it. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit Once a paragon in the community, refugees now avoided him for fear of being asked for a loan. 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. He would forge her signature on checks and even borrow money from relatives who leased stores from him. "It made me homesick," says Ted. Her name was Suganthini Khoeun. 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 worked as the church janitor but he soon realised earning $500 a month wouldn't be enough to support his family. "Ted, again, is Mr. Nine Lives. "I spent about $100,000 of my own money, my time, my everything," he says. Ted kept a low profile until the LA filmmaker Alice Gu got in touch a couple of years ago. People made fun of his accent. One night he asked the woman at the counter if saving $3,000 would be enough to buy a doughnut shop. NICK STREET Channy is a stocky man in his mid-forties, and he runs USA Donut in Boeung Keng Kang with his wife. [5], Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. He had met Richard Nixon, the former president, and Presidents Reagan and George HW Bush. Inspired by the economic success of Taiwan, Ted decided to lobby the US for "most favoured nation" status, which would open the door to foreign investment. She was lucky that Mayly Tao, whose mom, Chuong Lee, owns the shop, answered the phone. Sent to the city to study, Ngoy met the beautiful Suganthini Khoeun who was the daughter of a government. [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. For a year and a half, I struggled with how I was going to get access to that Mission Viejo mansion. Word spread. 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. In 1990, after disappearing for another disastrous trip to Las Vegas, he flew to Washington, D.C., and joined a Buddhist monastery. Boozy Dole Whips. . He lost all the doughnuts, said James Dok, director of the United Cambodian Community, a social service agency in Long Beach. [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. After cry, go back gambling." "The more you chase, the more it's gone," he says in a new documentary about his rise and fall, called The Donut King. Besides, he reasoned, as a politician he would not be able to gamble. Ngoy bought his first doughnut. 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 within weeks he was back on a plane to Vegas.

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