hicks was born in 1968 in kuala lumpur, malaysia, to a british father, ron hicks, and a cantonese-speaking singaporean-chinese mother, betty soh. her parents separated shortly after her birth and soh relocated to singapore in 1969 with her infant daughter. there, hicks' formative social environment was multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and included malays, indians, and chinese of various dialect groups. although hicks was biracial, she identified as chinese during her early childhood, speaking cantonese and watching chinese-language television at home.