Photo by Angela Cesere Union-TribuneChouy Chauv has been operating Super Donut in Carlsbad since March 1983. Chauv is a survivor of the regime of Pol Pot and the communist Khmer Rouge.
Cambodian immigrant escapes terror of Khmer Rouge to find new life in Carlsbad
Today's Local News
By Steven Mihailovich
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
It’s a long way from the village of Batebong, Cambodia, to the Village of Carlsbad, but Chouy Chauv made it.
While the price of his journey has been high, the rewards have been just as satisfying.
Chauv is the owner of Super Donuts, a small stand-alone shop on the northwest corner of Roosevelt Street and Grand Avenue, which he has been operating since March 1983.
Chauv made doughnuts every day for the first 11 years the business was in operation, closing only on Christmas and New Year’s Day and taking no vacations, he said.
In fact, Chauv married his wife, Sarah, on Dec. 25, 1984, so he wouldn’t have to close his shop for an extra day.
“We honeymooned in the doughnut shop,” Chauv said. “The next day, I had to open the shop and start making doughnuts. My kids still say I was crazy.”
It may sound like a hard life, but Chauv doesn’t see it that way at all. Not in comparison to his youth in Cambodia.
Chauv is a survivor of the regime of Pol Pot and the communist Khmer Rouge, which lasted from 1975 to 1979. During that period, an estimated 1.5 million Cambodians, about 21 percent of the population, were killed, many buried in the mass graves of the infamous Killing Fields.
That’s all in the past now for Chauv, who is busy running his doughnut shop from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day before locking up and going to pick up his wife at their second shop in Encinitas, which opened in 1994, he said.
While the past is gone, Chauv said it’s never forgotten.
“When I sit by myself, I think about that time,” Chauv said. “I think about the Khmer Rouge, how they killed so many people, how they tortured so many people, how so many people starved to death.”
Chauv still has nightmares about it.
He said the slaughter was indiscriminate. People were hung from trees, had their heads split open or were suffocated by having a plastic bag wrapped around their heads.
Chauv said the communists were particularly rough on women, preferring to slice open their innards.
The seventh of nine children, Chauv is one of five who survived the slaughter. Years later, he still sheds tears because he saw the communists cut the throat of his younger brother and his brother-in-law.
Chauv had a close shave himself when the communists came to his village. He said he was foraging through the forest one night when he was surrounded by four Khmer Rouge soldiers, none older than 15. Chauv remembers them dragging their AK-47s on the ground because the weapons were larger than they were.
They accused him of stealing a chicken, and they dug a hole, where he was certain they would place his body after shooting him.
Chauv denied the accusations.
“I said, ‘How can I eat when the whole county is hungry?’ ” Chauv said. “But I did steal it.”
Chauv said he endured torture for three successive nights.
They let him go, but in the meantime, the troops massacred people in his village.
“They were all gone, friends from school, neighbors,” Chauv said. “I don’t know why they let me go. I was praying. Maybe the god blinded them.”
Praying at a temple, Chauv vowed to help feed his village if he were allowed to live.
Chauv said he made good on that promise in 2006, sending $5,000 in cash in supplies to his former home village.
The chaos created by Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia in December 1978 provided the cover for Chauv to escape to Thailand, he said.
On Oct. 11, 1980, Chauv landedat Los Angeles International Airport carrying only one suitcase.
There he was reunited with his mother and a sister and brother, who had all escaped in 1975.
Two days later, Chauv began working at his sister’s doughnut shop in Santa Ana, where he learned the craft.
Chauv said he fell in love with Carlsbad during a stop there while on a family excursion to SeaWorld.
His brother later learned that the Carlsbad doughnut shop was for sale.
“My brother said, ‘You should buy it,’ ” Chauv recalled. “He wants only $20,000. I said, ‘Where am I going to get $20,000?’ ”
Chauv said he gathered small loans from the Cambodian immigrant community until he raised the money.
But he said running a business is no picnic when you don’t know the language.
“When people don’t speak English, they pay their taxes on time,” Chauv said. “My mother-in-law says, ‘You are lucky. You have no school, no education. How can you be a businessman?’ ”
To save money, Chauv and his wife slept in the shop’s windowless storage room for four years before buying a home in Oceanside in 1987.
“We’re from a poor country,” Chauv said. “We didn’t have electricity or running water. My wife didn’t complain, so I said, ‘Good.’ My kids ask, ’Daddy, why didn’t you get an apartment?’ I saved $500 a month for four years. I put a $30,000 down payment on my house.”
Jim Hinkle has been a regular customer at Super Donuts since 2004. Hinkle says Chauve represents the forgotten side of American immigration.
“His story is out there,” Hinkle said. “There are people doing it the right way. They really appreciate what we’ve got and (what we) take for granted.”
Chauv said he prefers the peace he has found in America and doesn’t miss Cambodia much, though he suspects he’ll visit one day.
On reflection, he said his has been a blessed life along a difficult path, but he still has one goal left.
“My life was excellent,” Chauv said. “When I think about my family, it’s very sad though. I know I’ll work to 65 or 70, if I live that long. But when I get done with everything, my dream is to take a vacation.”
Today's Local News
By Steven Mihailovich
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
It’s a long way from the village of Batebong, Cambodia, to the Village of Carlsbad, but Chouy Chauv made it.
While the price of his journey has been high, the rewards have been just as satisfying.
Chauv is the owner of Super Donuts, a small stand-alone shop on the northwest corner of Roosevelt Street and Grand Avenue, which he has been operating since March 1983.
Chauv made doughnuts every day for the first 11 years the business was in operation, closing only on Christmas and New Year’s Day and taking no vacations, he said.
In fact, Chauv married his wife, Sarah, on Dec. 25, 1984, so he wouldn’t have to close his shop for an extra day.
“We honeymooned in the doughnut shop,” Chauv said. “The next day, I had to open the shop and start making doughnuts. My kids still say I was crazy.”
It may sound like a hard life, but Chauv doesn’t see it that way at all. Not in comparison to his youth in Cambodia.
Chauv is a survivor of the regime of Pol Pot and the communist Khmer Rouge, which lasted from 1975 to 1979. During that period, an estimated 1.5 million Cambodians, about 21 percent of the population, were killed, many buried in the mass graves of the infamous Killing Fields.
That’s all in the past now for Chauv, who is busy running his doughnut shop from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day before locking up and going to pick up his wife at their second shop in Encinitas, which opened in 1994, he said.
While the past is gone, Chauv said it’s never forgotten.
“When I sit by myself, I think about that time,” Chauv said. “I think about the Khmer Rouge, how they killed so many people, how they tortured so many people, how so many people starved to death.”
Chauv still has nightmares about it.
He said the slaughter was indiscriminate. People were hung from trees, had their heads split open or were suffocated by having a plastic bag wrapped around their heads.
Chauv said the communists were particularly rough on women, preferring to slice open their innards.
The seventh of nine children, Chauv is one of five who survived the slaughter. Years later, he still sheds tears because he saw the communists cut the throat of his younger brother and his brother-in-law.
Chauv had a close shave himself when the communists came to his village. He said he was foraging through the forest one night when he was surrounded by four Khmer Rouge soldiers, none older than 15. Chauv remembers them dragging their AK-47s on the ground because the weapons were larger than they were.
They accused him of stealing a chicken, and they dug a hole, where he was certain they would place his body after shooting him.
Chauv denied the accusations.
“I said, ‘How can I eat when the whole county is hungry?’ ” Chauv said. “But I did steal it.”
Chauv said he endured torture for three successive nights.
They let him go, but in the meantime, the troops massacred people in his village.
“They were all gone, friends from school, neighbors,” Chauv said. “I don’t know why they let me go. I was praying. Maybe the god blinded them.”
Praying at a temple, Chauv vowed to help feed his village if he were allowed to live.
Chauv said he made good on that promise in 2006, sending $5,000 in cash in supplies to his former home village.
The chaos created by Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia in December 1978 provided the cover for Chauv to escape to Thailand, he said.
On Oct. 11, 1980, Chauv landedat Los Angeles International Airport carrying only one suitcase.
There he was reunited with his mother and a sister and brother, who had all escaped in 1975.
Two days later, Chauv began working at his sister’s doughnut shop in Santa Ana, where he learned the craft.
Chauv said he fell in love with Carlsbad during a stop there while on a family excursion to SeaWorld.
His brother later learned that the Carlsbad doughnut shop was for sale.
“My brother said, ‘You should buy it,’ ” Chauv recalled. “He wants only $20,000. I said, ‘Where am I going to get $20,000?’ ”
Chauv said he gathered small loans from the Cambodian immigrant community until he raised the money.
But he said running a business is no picnic when you don’t know the language.
“When people don’t speak English, they pay their taxes on time,” Chauv said. “My mother-in-law says, ‘You are lucky. You have no school, no education. How can you be a businessman?’ ”
To save money, Chauv and his wife slept in the shop’s windowless storage room for four years before buying a home in Oceanside in 1987.
“We’re from a poor country,” Chauv said. “We didn’t have electricity or running water. My wife didn’t complain, so I said, ‘Good.’ My kids ask, ’Daddy, why didn’t you get an apartment?’ I saved $500 a month for four years. I put a $30,000 down payment on my house.”
Jim Hinkle has been a regular customer at Super Donuts since 2004. Hinkle says Chauve represents the forgotten side of American immigration.
“His story is out there,” Hinkle said. “There are people doing it the right way. They really appreciate what we’ve got and (what we) take for granted.”
Chauv said he prefers the peace he has found in America and doesn’t miss Cambodia much, though he suspects he’ll visit one day.
On reflection, he said his has been a blessed life along a difficult path, but he still has one goal left.
“My life was excellent,” Chauv said. “When I think about my family, it’s very sad though. I know I’ll work to 65 or 70, if I live that long. But when I get done with everything, my dream is to take a vacation.”
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