[1] He taught in Chinese schools in Johor and contributed to newspapers like the Nanyang Siang Pau.

[2] Between 1933 and 1938, he taught in Thailand, where he met his wife (née Liu).

[2] In addition to his teaching and editorial work, Hsu was noted for translating Malay and Thai texts, such as the Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals), into Chinese.

[6] Hsu died of a heart attack at a nursing home in Singapore on 17 November 1981.

To keep the collection in Singapore, a Singaporean businessman, Kho Bak Weng, formed a company to buy the books from Hsu and set up a private library.