The community continues to show a strong disdain for corruption and maintains a high state of alert against the crime, the 2009 ICAC Annual Survey has found.

The survey also found that 97.9 per cent of respondents expressed support for the anti-corruption agency. The survey was conducted by a professional research company in November 2009, polling a random sample of about 1,500 people by phone.

On a 0-10 point scale, with 0 representing total rejection and 10 representing total acceptance, the survey revealed that the public at large disapproved corruption. The mean scores for tolerating graft in the public and the business sectors were at a low 1.1 and 1.6 respectively.

The survey also showed that over 88 per cent of respondents believed that reports made to the anti-graft body would be kept confidential. More than 75 per cent were willing to report corruption while about 68 per cent were ready to reveal their identities when doing so.

"Despite some fluctuations, the findings were in line with the trends in the past few years, demonstrating a continued public trust in the ICAC and its reporting system," a Commission spokesman said.

"In actual fact, the proportion of non-anonymous reports received by the ICAC has been hovering at around 70 per cent in recent years," the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, the poll showed that over 92.2 per cent appreciated ICAC's anti-corruption efforts. Amongst these respondents, 68.3 per cent considered the Commission's work in fighting graft very effective or effective while the remaining 23.9 per cent rated it as average.

The survey also saw a sizable portion of the respondents - up to 77 per cent - was aware of Commission's initiatives in publicising its work.

While about 60 per cent of respondents perceived that corruption was uncommon in Hong Kong, about 31 per cent thought otherwise, attributing their perception mainly to media reports on a number of corruption cases.

"We noticed that while most findings were comparable to those recorded in recent years, more respondents had chosen to reserve their views in the latest survey," the spokesman noted.

For example, when asked about the prevalence of corruption in the government, respondents who opted for a "no opinion or don't know" reply increased significantly from 1.4 per cent in 2008 to 13.2 per cent in 2009. Regarding perceived corruption in the business sector, 15.9 per cent refrained from giving views, compared to 1.9 per cent in 2008.

In terms of actual experience, most respondents or about 95 per cent clearly indicated they had not encountered any corruption in the preceding year while 2.5 per cent replied in the affirmative, similar to the findings in the past few years.

In the latest survey, less respondents (10.5 per cent) believed the ICAC had abused its powers in investigation as compared to 13.5 per cent in 2008 but those who opted for a "no opinion/don't know" reply rose significantly from 9.1 per cent in 2008 to 32.2 per cent in 2009.

While 57.7 per cent were aware that ICAC's work was subject to external supervision, similar to the findings in recent years, 17.7 per cent withheld their views, compared to only 4.9 per cent in 2008.

On the other hand, the 2009 survey also registered a 35 per cent refusal rate, much higher than the average 23 per cent in the past five years.

"According to the views of some research professionals, this may be partly attributed to the large numbers of telephone surveys in the market, making people less forthcoming to respond," the spokesman said.

"Whilst we are ready to fine tune our work strategy and services in light of the latest findings, research professionals will also be consulted for a review of the current polling method.

"The public can rest assured that the ICAC will continue to enforce the law effectively and impartially, and operate under stringent checks and balances," the spokesman stressed.