[1][2] He was born in Manado, Sulawesi (then known as Celebes), Dutch East Indies, on 9 March 1911 to Lie Kae Tae and Oei Tjeng Nie Nio.

Within a few months, he managed to clear this harbour from mines, placed by the Imperial Japanese Navy against an eventual Allied naval invasion.

In 1947, he was assigned the duty of escorting boats smuggling products to Singapore to be sold for financing the Indonesian independence war.

One of his first duties was to escort a convoy of small boats that was carrying 800 tons of rubber to the Chief Representative of the Republic of Indonesia in Singapore, Utoyo Ramelan.

This base was used to supply the struggling revolutionary government troops with fuel, gasoline, food, weapons, and other needs to maintain the independence of Indonesia.

[4] In early 1950, while in Bangkok, he was called for duty to Surabaya by the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy Admiral Subiyakto and assigned the command of a corvette, R.I. Rajawali.