His father Soe Lie Piet was a literary writer and magazine editor, and his elder brother Arief Budiman was a sociologist and lecturer at Satya Wacana Christian University and a vocal critical voice in Indonesian politics.

After the release of Riri Riza's Gie in 2005, his articles were compiled by Stanley and Aris Santoso and republished with the title Zaman Peralihan (Transition Era) by publisher GagasMedia.

An avid proponent of living close to nature, Soe quoted Walt Whitman in his diary: "Now I see the secret of the making of the best person.

Soe attributed the statement, which echoes similar comments from Friedrich Nietzsche, to an anonymous Greek philosopher.

Soe's university thesis was also published, as Di Bawah Lantera Merah (Under the Red Lantern).