Ang was born on May 25, 1894 in Bandung, Dutch East Indies. His family traced their ancestry to Nan'an, Fujian and his parents, Hong Songmei and Chen Cui Niang, operated a grocery store. He had early education in the Malay language and Hokkien and then enrolled in a Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan school. After finishing at the THHK school he went to China to study at the JNXT (Jinan Xuetang), also known as Kay Lam Hak Tong, a school designed for Overseas Chinese in Nanjing. (The institution is a predecessor of the present day Jinan University.) Ang was still studying there when the 1911 Revolution broke out, forcing him to end his studies and return to the Dutch East Indies. Upon his return to the Indies he became a teacher, first at Ciamis in 1912 and 1913, and then 1917 in Tasikmalaya. During that period he became interested in journalism and writing.