When people know about the bad reputation, people are not going to vote for me. The first few times he and Christy visited, on early family holidays, everything went well: they watched a magic show, they saw Elvis perform. "They're a good company and I owe them gratitude," Ted says. That is a lie, he cried, and plunged the blade into his belly. He paid for their airfare and, when they arrived, "Uncle Ted" let them stay at his house while he taught them the ropes of the donut business. These are all people who present day you dont associate with welcoming refugees with open arms. Ted kept a low profile until the LA filmmaker Alice Gu got in touch a couple of years ago. There were some hurt relationships. This caused tension in the Ngoy household, being the center of many arguments between Ngoy and his wife. Despite never really being a huge success under the previous owners, Christy's became popular under the ownership of the Ngoys. Ted did try to curb his habit. Never give up. I just want to create as many as I can, 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. "This friendly voice picks up the phone, a young voice in that perfectly American accented English. Ted soon got a job working at Winchell's, which was then the dominant donut chain on the West Coast. He took two additional jobs, working almost 24 hours per day. "Well, it is because I've fallen in love with you," Ted replied. He has found his way to be wealthy again. In 1978 Vietnamese troops invaded and in 1979 Pol Pot was overthrown, leading to another wave of Cambodian refugees. 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. The couple had flash cars, bought a million-dollar mansion with a pool and an elevator, and went on holidays abroad. By 2005, after a failed political career in Cambodia, Ngoy was penniless and living on the porch of a fellow Parkcrest Christian Church parishioner's mobile home. Im also, again, the daughter of Chinese American immigrants and my dad was a big Republican party supporter. One day in 2018, she cold-called Ngoy bought his first doughnut. She was lucky that Mayly Tao, whose mom, Chuong Lee, owns the shop, answered the phone. All night long Ted would watch people buying coffee and doughnuts, and he realised it was a good business. She said he would be throwing his money away. Refugees who had sought his advice now avoided him, fearing he would ask for a loan. They saved money where they could, even washing and reusing coffee stirrers - until they were reprimanded by Winchell's. So Ngoy snuck into her family's heavily guarded compound and climbed through her bedroom window. Ted Ngoy was born in Sisophon, Cambodia. About 30 Christys Doughnuts were still in operation, as were hundreds of other Cambodian-owned doughnut shops. And of the 5,000 independent doughnut shops in California today, around 80% are still Cambodian, she says. Ngoy would often visit Las Vegas for a period of a week, unbeknownst to his wife. Even in gambling. He co-signed loans for supplies and equipment. Hes friends with Dana Rohrabacher. It was a humbling experience, and the lowest point in his life. Her daughter, Mayly Tao, has taken over the reigns of DK's. In 1985, he and Suganthini became U.S. citizens. He sat on the roof of his apartment and played his flute, the music sweeping over the neighborhood. Theyre savvy, young, hip. I dont think you dare come to my room, she responded. Ngoy forged her signature on checks. [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. "Growing up, when you look on the screen, there's not a lot of Asian representation. One of Ngoy's first jobs in the US was as a service station attendant. But the situation at home was increasingly dangerous and on his last trip, in April 1975, the capital fell. Ted liked Cadillacs; Christy preferred Mercedes-Benz convertibles. Ted Ngoy stands in front of his first independent donut shop in La Habra, named after his wife Christy Ngoy. Ted encouraged others to do the same. After Ted revealed his presence to Christy, he hid under her bed until he was eventually discovered and her family allowed them be together. She divorced him and didnt return to Cambodia. 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.". "I achieved my American dream," Ted says. "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.". Ted became known as the Donut King - or Uncle Ted,. Word spread. On Sundays he would go to the church where her son was the pastor and join in Bible studies. Don't die. He has to start a new life.. On Sundays, he attends Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach. "This story sheds light on refugees in a positive way, about what happens when they're given an opportunity," she says. He began placing bets with Cambodian bookies on football and basketball games. Christy has remarried and lives in Lake Forest, not far from their three adult children, who all live in Orange County. Then he pulled a knife. "It was a different take on a refugee story,". 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. Im Chinese American. I have to go to school.". War erupted in 1970. He tasted his first donut at a Tustin gas station, trained as a baker in a La Mirada Winchells and ran his own Winchells store in the Balboa Peninsula. One involves reggae and another focuses on Puerto Rican musicians. 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. I think there's nothing wrong for them to lie to the embassy because everybody needs a chance to survive. To make sure he went through with it, they insisted on hiding behind a curtain while he said his spiel. His party did poorly in the 1993 and 1998 parliamentary elections, but Prime Minister Hun Sen made him an advisor on commerce and agriculture. By 2002 Ted was broke. Some of those he borrowed from were the people he had leased doughnut shops to. 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. Suganthini smuggled him food at night, and after many days she said she loved him too. They both drank and vowed to be faithful. Ngoy's gambling had progressed from the card tables to placing bets on sports games with Cambodian bookies. Her parents and cousins hid behind curtains so they could hear him break off the relationship. [1], In 2013, he was living in Phnom Penh working in real estate. He dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. I cry. Baby Yoda cocktails. ", "I was like, 'What on earth makes this Cambodian? A daughter owns a 1950s-style hamburger restaurant in Orange County. Seasonal Halloween donuts at DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. Yes, you read that right. Boozy Dole Whips. 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. Some of his relationships didnt end well. On one of his Las Vegas trips, Ngoy took up gambling. Within a decade, he had become a multimillionaire with a lakeside mansion . "I never back down. Ted was dismayed. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. Ted Ngoy: Yeah. Over four years nearly two million Cambodians were either executed, or died of starvation, disease and overwork. 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.Its wild. 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. 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. "[8] Giving it three-out-of-four stars, Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com called the The Donut King "a heartwarming albeit scattered documentary from director Alice Gu," and praised the film for "its balance of poppy visuals and detailed history. Oh, and stop for a donut and say "hi.". None of the people Ngoy helped get started lent him a hand, he said: I trained them. One night, he. All the boys at his school were in love with her, and as a poor half-Chinese boy from a village near the Thai border he had no chance. in Irvine, Naturally he agreed, and set his sisters up with doughnut shops. Aside from what Everybody went to the gold mine, Ngoy said. "After cry, go back gambling," he told one interviewer. From the wall, he leaped onto the roof and crawled through an open window. These are kids who are American educated. He enjoyed meeting the younger generation of doughnut makers, who are innovating and inventing new flavours. It took longer than 40 years. He returned to a refugee community in transition. He is nicknamed the "Donut King. Every evening, he sat by his open window and played the flute. Ted managed to escape on the last flight out of Phnom Penh but Suganthini's parents were left behind. He took a chance and opened a bedroom door - and there was Suganthini, fast asleep. And she was heavily chaperoned. His gesture went unreciprocated for days. , the I told them I'm very sorry 1,000 times. At a news conference, he dissolved his party and accused the government of corruption. 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. Gu realized his story was also an epic romance. , to name a few outlets), but Alice Gu is the first to put it on film. And then we opened second store in Fullerton, and when they opened, I also train people and my wage, Christi, also . As many as I could.". 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. The United States alone is home to more than 25,000 donut shops and they produce more than 10 billion donuts each year. "I came back to L.A. and I didn't know that I was going to create this crazy explosion in the business. 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. 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. It was helping his community and it was a bit of a cautionary tale.". She would drive there with her youngest son and go from hotel to hotel looking for him. It smelled delicious and when he first tasted one it reminded him of something from home - a fried pastry, also circular, called nom kong. [4], Ngoy secured work as a janitor with Peace Lutheran Church in Tustin, California. Which donut shop do you find yourself going back to for the sake of eating a donut?I had my out of body experience at DKs Donuts and Bakery in Santa Monica. This is going to happen.'". Once, he was a millionaire who met three U.S. presidents. Cambodia was poor and under-developed after years of war. "If I need the vote, I cannot gamble. "Some of them were cousins, uncles, nieces," says Ted. 'How I got rich beating men at their own game'. Ngoy bought stores in Fullerton, Anaheim, Anaheim Hills and Buena Park over the next year. Whenever Ted won, the family would rejoice with him. Ted Ngoy made a fortune in doughnuts. But he admits he was also aware that conquering Suganthini's heart held out the promise of a better life. 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. He credits his Christian faith with finally curing his gambling addiction, although he confesses he liked to bet on football games until last year. He subsequently received training through an affirmative action program to increase minority hiring within the Winchell's chain of doughnut shops, and managed a store in Newport Beach where he employed his wife and nephew. "But many of them were not related, they just lived in the same village or heard of my name. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. When he lost their money he would just sign over the shop to them - without telling Christy, whose signature he forged. buy a ticket At loose ends, she returned to Los Angeles and, once again, started helping with the family business. That phrase Donut King is already so eye-catching right off the bat. This is an incredible story of how he helped people. "I cry. The family members worked 17 hours a day and saved for a year. When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, they knew they couldn't go home. The Ngoys went to Las Vegas for the first time in 1977. Then he flew to a monastery in the Thai countryside. 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