If you were looking for a classic example of a contradiction in terms, you could do worse than 'Myanmese diplomat'.
This week we reported the rather intriguing letter from Myanmar's consul general in Hong Kong to his locally based counterparts and a few local newspapers.
In it, he referred to Rohingya boatpeople as not being Myanmese citizens or among his nation's 100-odd ethnic groups. He offered, apparently by way of evidence, a comparison of the Rohingya's 'dark brown' skin with the 'fair and soft, good looking as well' complexion of Myanmese people. In case any reader missed the point, he added, 'They are as ugly as ogres'.
Despite the racist content, it attempted to strike a light-hearted, even jaunty tone, with consul Ye Myint Aung offering his own 'handsome' appearance as the 'typical genuine one of a Myanmar gentleman'.
Mr Aung's diplomatic colleagues are used to his letters. Some look askance and quietly file them away as further examples of the strange ramblings of the increasingly isolated and paranoid military regime he represents. One recently sent as a 'New Year Gift' carried a letter from a Myanmese monk in Taiwan that described the Rohingya as Kalar, or 'the Blacks', who were motivated by greed to seek a better life in Thailand.
But after we printed the letter, it was picked up by the international news wires and the phrase 'ugly as ogres' rightly resonated, appearing in print and on websites across the region and beyond.
Other diplomats from more normal governments might find themselves in hot water for committing such phrases to print. Just imagine the impact if an envoy of a major country, China or Britain, say, described migrants from another state in such terms. It doesn't bear thinking about.