He first came to public attention as a journalist. In 1988, he developed the South China Morning Post's "Lai See" column, one of the SCMP's most popular columns, taking a satirical and irreverent view of Hong Kong goings-on. He now writes a daily gossip-and-satire column in the Hong Kong iMail, an independent newspaper. In the rest of Asia, he is best known as the collector of bizarre stories and photographs that appear every week in the Travellers' Tales page of the Far Eastern Economic Review. He is also a presenter and regular guest on a variety of shows, on local Hong Kong television as well as on international channels such as CNN and CNBC.

Seven things worth knowing about Nury Vittachi:

• Vittachi was born on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1958, after a penniless newspaperman eloped with the daughter of the chief justice.

• The family had to flee their homeland one dark night in 1960, after Vittachi’s father had written articles critical of the authorities.

• They lived a nomadic existence for a while, eventually settling in London, where Vittachi went to school, and afterwards learned journalism on the Fleet Street tabloids.

• He came to Hong Kong in 1986 with his English wife on honeymoon, and they decided to lengthen their stay. Their honeymoon is now in its 14th year. Their wedding presents remain unopened in an attic in London.

• Vittachi joined the South China Morning Post in 1988 and took over a small, irregular column of brokers’ gossip called Lai See. It blossomed into the most popular section of the newspaper.

• He and his friend Larry Feign dominated the Hong Kong best-seller charts through the 1990s with books of humour and cartoons. Both staff members were dismissed from the newspaper during a time of political over-sensitivity.

• Nury and his English wife Mary have three adopted Chinese children. The family is nicknamed “the Benettons” by the local media.