[3] Born in 1874 in Batavia (now Jakarta), he was a scion of the Khouw family of Tamboen, part of the Cabang Atas or the Chinese gentry (baba bangsawan) of colonial Indonesia.
[1] Unlike many of his brothers and cousins, Khouw lived his life as a private citizen and eschewed official involvement in the colonial Chinese bureaucracy.
[8][9] Despite his lack of involvement in the colonial bureaucracy, Khouw was nonetheless well-known as a generous patron and benefactor of many charitable causes, both in Indonesia and Europe.
[1] In 1901, together with Phoa Keng Hek and other community leaders, he helped establish Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan, a Chinese educational and cultural organization, and served as its inaugural Vice-President.
[18][19] One commentator noted that Khouw's mausoleum was considerably more expensive than the burial memorial of American billionaire William Rockefeller in Sleepy Hollow, New York.