Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Colin Lowther.
Voice 2
And I’m Megan Nollet. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Voice 1
What do people want? Usually, they want to be happy and successful. To be loved. To have a big, healthy family. To own a nice home. To have a good job. To have plenty of money. To be free. To have the opportunity to pursue their dreams. The Doughnut King had it all. But then he lost it. He was alone with no money. Somehow years later he made the dream come true all over again.
Voice 2
On today’s Spotlight, we explore the high number of doughnut shops owned by Cambodians in southern California. A doughnut is dessert made from sweet, fried dough. We examine how Cambodians started in the doughnut business. We discuss who was behind it. We talk about what happened to this person. How did this one man affect the nation of Cambodia?
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Ted Ngoy is from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He got married in the 1970s. He and his wife had several children. But the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975. Members of this dangerous political movement tortured and killed many Cambodians. Over twenty-five percent of the population died because of Khmer Rouge policies. The Khmer Rouge used pickaxes to kill many Cambodians to save bullets. There were murders every day. Ted and his family escaped to the United States.
Voice 2
Ted worked three jobs to support his family. One of the jobs was at a fuel pumping station. It was near a doughnut shop called Winchell’s. The delicious smell from Winchell’s reminded him of a Cambodian fried pastry called nom kong. Ted said:
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“It made me miss home.”
Voice 1
Ted saw many people go to Winchell’s. One day he talked to a woman who worked there. She said their shop was part of a chain of stores. A chain is when a company opens four or more stores in different places. Ted joined Winchell’s training program to learn how to run a doughnut shop. The company let him run one of their stores after he finished the training program. He was able to save enough money to buy a doughnut shop of his own.
Voice 2
For two years, Ted and his family ran both shops. They saved a lot of money. Ted decided to buy a bigger doughnut shop. He started making more money. He rented one of his other shops to a family of Cambodians who were struggling financially. He trained them and they ran the shop. They paid him money each month. Ted decided to do the same for other Cambodian families.
Voice 1
In Cambodia in the nineteen seventies, the Khmer Rouge hurt and killed any Cambodians with money or education. They thought the West had corrupted their minds. But they were also scared that people with education would resist their control. The Khmer Rouge killed over two million Cambodians. In 1979, armies from Vietnam defeated the Khmer Rouge. Ted helped more than one hundred families move to the United States. He rented them doughnut shops so that they could make a living. Ted said:
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“Using money to help others is a feeling as powerful as any drug.”
Voice 2
Ted and his family became rich. They owned sixty doughnut shops. He called his chain of shops Christy’s Donuts after his wife. They used pink boxes because they were cheaper than any other boxes. The pink boxes became popular. People started calling him the Doughnut King. They bought a large house. They had nice cars. They took many vacations all over the world. But then Ted visited Las Vegas, Nevada.
Voice 1
He quickly became addicted to gambling. Gambling means playing games for money. He could not stop, no matter how he tried. He talked to counselors. Twice he joined a Buddhist community. But he kept going to Las Vegas to gamble. Sometimes he would go there by himself. He would not tell his family where he was. He would spend several days there gambling. He stopped focusing on his doughnut shops. Business suffered. They started losing money. Then Ted would lose more money by gambling.
Voice 2
He borrowed money from the other Cambodian refugees. He gambled with their money and lost. Finally, Ted lost all his doughnut shops. He and his family moved back to Cambodia.
Voice 1
But Cambodians did not give up after Ted left the United States. Others took over in the doughnut business. It was the perfect business for Cambodians who were new to America. They did not have to learn much English to run a doughnut shop. The cost was not very high to start a shop. They did not need much equipment. There were no large national doughnut chains in southern California yet, like Dunkin’ Donuts or Krispy Kreme. Today, Cambodians run 80% of the 5,000 doughnut shops in California. They own more doughnut shops than Winchell’s, the company that trained Ted. Dorothy Chow grew up working in her parents’ doughnut shop. She said:
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“There were some days that I worked fourteen hours. But now as I am older, I can look back at it with pride. Like, I am part of something bigger. I am part of this whole journey that our parents have been on. They came here with nothing. They needed all the help that they could with the doughnut shop. And we were there to help and support them whenever we can.”
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Ted’s life after leaving the United States was less straightforward. He made more mistakes. He started having sex with a woman who was not his wife. When Christy found out, she divorced him.
Voice 1
Ted left Cambodia for America again. He had no money. He could not find a job. No one would even hire him to make doughnuts. He met an old woman at a Christian church. She let him live on her porch. It was an enclosed room on the outside of her home. Her son was the minister of the church. Ted got very involved with the church. Soon, he became a Christian.
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A few years passed. But Ted was no richer than when he started. He moved back to Cambodia. One day an old business friend asked for his help with a deal involving buying and selling land. Ted did a good job. He got more involved in deals with land. He became rich for the second time. He married again and had more children.
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A filmmaker wanted to make a film about Ted’s life. She convinced him to go back to southern California. He did not want to go because many people did not like him. Christy and their children lived in the United States. They did not want to speak to him. But when Ted went, he apologized to his family. He also apologized to many Cambodians who had worked for him. He lost their money gambling. Many forgave him. But there are still some in Cambodia who have not. He ruined all his doughnut shops by gambling. Many Cambodian families suffered.
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Ted no longer gambles. He says his Christian faith in Jesus Christ helped him finally overcome his addiction. He is happy and peaceful. He tells everyone not to gamble. He told the BBC:
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“I want to tell the world, ‘Do not gamble.’ When you gamble, your life is finished. You will destroy your family. Gambling is a devil.”
Voice 1
Have you ever heard of the Doughnut King before today? Did you know so many doughnut shops in Southern California are owned by Cambodians? You can leave a comment on our website at WWW dot Spotlight English dot com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X. You can also get Spotlight episodes delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.
Voice 2
The writer of this episode was Peter Anderson. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for this episode and voiced by Spotlight. No AI or artificial intelligence was used in this episode. Spotlight episodes are written, voiced, and produced by real people for real people, no matter where in the world they live. This episode is called, “The Doughnut King.”
Voice 1
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight episode. Goodbye.
Question:
Have you ever heard of the Doughnut King before today? Did you know so many doughnut shops in Southern California are owned by Cambodians?
