Iam not one of those who thinks it is my business to be rude about local television presenters. This is not for lack of raw material: as soon as new acquaintances find out what I do to pay the rent they nearly all manage to come up with some helpful suggestions for ways to fill the column with this kind of criticism.
However, I am not one to exaggerate their importance either. Local English language television presenters are few and far between but this doesn't make them rare diamonds. So I feel driven to dispute Jacqui Stafford's inclusion on the idiosyncratic list of Hong Kong's 10 Most Interesting People, produced last week by HK Magazine.
Stafford, for the uninitiated, is the blonde who co-hosts Citylife (Pearl, 8pm).
She began doing awesomely pointless segments interviewing terrified tourists in front of the Star Ferry with questions like 'Why do you wear sunglasses?' and gradually edged out Jo Chim for the co-host spot alongside Maria Chen.
Now as well as those famous thrusts with the microphone, she gets to interview diet doctors and fung shui experts, and to send herself up with great enthusiasm. She has added a welcome note of self-mockery to the show missing since the days of John Dykes and Paul George.
This is not sophisticated stuff, and at least she has the intelligence to know that, unlike recent predecessors who have now thankfully moved on to performing in adverts.
