 He is of Scottish, Chinese, Nyonya and Burmese ancestry and was born in Kuantan.His father, Eric Kirton, came to Malaya during the Malayan Emergency and later married his mother, Tan Cheng Kim, whom he met at a church camp.His paternal great grandfather, William Waddell, working for his uncle Sir Robert McAlpine, oversaw the building of the renowned West Highland Railway and Glenfinnan Viaduct in Scotland, famously featured in the Harry Potter movies.