Alung had two full brothers and sixteen half-siblings from his father's second marriage to Julia Fayerweather Afong, a British-Hawaiian woman of aliʻi (noble) descent.

Chun Afong left his Hawaiian-born son to live with Lee Hong and his family in Meixi and took Alung back to Hawaii to raise in each other's respective culture for the next seven years.

Edmund Ibbotson or Charles William Turner at ʻIolani School (called St. Alban's College).

[13][14] During his junior year at Yale, Alung won an oratory prize with his essay titled "The Educational Element in Chinese Civilization".

In 1886–87, he was involved in the so-called Aki opium scandal, an infamous bribery scandal involving King Kalākaua and his subordinate Junius Kaʻae who promised a government license to sell opium to Chinese businessman Tong Kee (Aki) after a bribe of $75,000.