Tan Boen Kim

Tan Boen Kim (1887-1959) was a Peranakan Chinese journalist and novelist from Batavia (now Jakarta), Dutch East Indies.

He was apparently a self-taught writer, and while working as a bank clerk he started writing for the Batavia newspaper Sin Po where he had a column Zaterdagsch Causerie under the pseudonym Indo China.

[2] During his time as editor of Tjhoen Tjhioe, he was charged with a Persdelict offense under the strict Dutch press censorship laws, for defaming a public official, and sentenced to 14 days in prison.

[3] During this time he continued publishing a number of novels loosely based on current events, in particular crimes.

According to Claudine Salmon, he spent his final years living in extreme poverty in a room belonging to the Jinde Yuan, a Chinese temple in Jakarta.