Under the terms of their licences, stations since 1988 have been required by the Broadcasting Authority to relay about two such messages every hour.

The government produces about 100 new APIs a year, which cost between $16,000 and $50,000 each.

Departments come up with ideas. Information Services writes scripts or farms them out to commercial advertising agencies and producers.

The aim is laudable. The brief sound bites are meant to keep you informed. They do this by taking official messages and tarting them up with histrionics, sound effects, cute dramatisations and grossly exaggerated accents.

The results frequently sound like a couple of gerbils in the grip of mating fever. Or a demented female non-commissioned officer venting rage on a notably backward recruit.

At best, many of the announcements are simply inexplicable. At worst, they are offensive. Some adopt a hectoring tone with strong overtones of a schoolmistress dominatrix whisking a cane. Don't you dare catch viral gastroenteritis, one message sternly warns.

The thrust of the announcements is supposed to educate the public. But such is the clumsy and awkward way many announcements are produced, the results could be counter-productive.

The APIs have suddenly taken on an increasingly shrill and doctrinaire tone. Do as you are told, smartly! And no questions! And go out and hire someone who has recovered from mental illness! That's another of the messages.

The APIs sometimes infuriate broadcasters. One radio man complained to me: 'You have to slip one of these stupid APIs into a serious programme. It's enraging.'

Beware of pathological gambling! Take heed about illegal fuel stations! Don't litter! Save fuel! Wash your hands! Wash them again! Drive safely!

There's a message for every occasion, and they come at you about 15,000 times a year.

It's not only broadcasting types who feel distaste at the oh-so-cute announcements.

The Head of RTHK's Radio Three, Bryan Curtis, recently was among a delegation that met representatives of the Information Services Department to discuss what has become a touchy situation.

Discreetly perhaps, broadcasters did not voice their own opinions of the skits meant to rouse the public. Instead, they presented a list of complaints from listeners.

They culled a modest selection from e-mails, letters and comments made at public forums.

One RTHK senior staff member is said to have been accosted by businessmen at a cocktail party, some of them attempting to recreate a shrill directive repeated on one of the more odious APIs.

Explain yourself, people demanded in parody.

RTHK staff say the skits simply do not work.

There are a number of reasons. Scripts are weakly written or awkward and badly acted. Some translated from Cantonese make no sense in English. Technical language used by some of the writers makes APIs awkward and confusing. Some writers try to pack in too many words and technical jargon.

The result is people simply can't understand the message.

'People just don't talk that way,' Bryan Curtis said after his meeting with information service staff. 'We played several examples of objectionable APIs along with examples of effective ones. We played two very good announcements from Canada, which we found on the internet.'

The professional broadcasters made some basic suggestions. Why doesn't the government write simple messages and read them in a straightforward way instead of jazzing them up as attention-grabbing skits?

And if they do opt to use actors, use just a couple of lines to grab listeners' attention, then read the basic information normally.

Good advice, and a sensible guide to alleviate a widespread nuisance.

There's another point. The government orders all radio stations to play these APIs. From a marketing point of view, this is a waste of time and money. A lot of messages are directed at truck drivers, for instance. How many fellows driving a truck are going to be tuned in to English language Radio 3?

All stations have to run the announcements, although many broadcasters grit their teeth as the nonsensical messages are beamed out. At present, Radio 3, the most widely heard English language station, is obliged to run about two an hour. And we listeners are obliged to listen to them.