Survey shows public willingness to report graft
2014-6-18
ICAC’s annual survey indicated that the vast majority of respondents had not come across corruption last year. And the public was willing to report should they encounter graft.
A total of 1,482 persons were randomly selected by a professional polling agency commissioned by the ICAC to conduct a household survey between October and December in 2013.
Over 80 per cent of respondents said they were ready to report any instances of corruption –'96 a highest percentage ever recorded since 2009; 12.5 per cent replied it would depend on circumstances; 4.9 per cent said they would not report at all.
Among those who were reluctant to report corruption, “having no time to report the case”, “worry of affecting safety of respondents themselves and their families” and “worry that reporting/investigation procedures were troublesome” were major reasons given.
On the perceived prevalence of corruption, 64.9 per cent of respondents considered corruption was not common in Hong Kong while 29.1 per cent held opposite views.
However, when asked about their actual experience, the vast majority of respondents or 98.8 per cent confirmed that they had not encountered corruption in the past 12 months. 96.6 per cent said their relatives and friends also had not come across corrupt ion over the same period of time.
“Despite the drop in corruption reports received by the ICAC last year, the annual survey reveals that the percentage of respondents willing to report corruption is the highest in the past five years, reflecting that the public continues to embrace the cor e value of probity, and demonstrates confidence in ICAC’s anti-graft work,” said an ICAC spokesperson.
“Only 1.2 per cent said they had experienced corruption, indicating that Hong Kong remains a clean society.”
The poll also found the public showed distain for corruption. Using a 0-10 point scale to measure people’s tolerance of graft, with 0 representing total rejection and 10 representing total tolerance, a mean score of 0.8 was registered, same as 2012.
The proportion of respondents of opting for total rejection, or 0 score, was 82.4 per cent, the highest percentage in the past four years.
Besides, nearly all respondents or 99.1 per cent agreed that keeping Hong Kong corruption-free was important to the overall development of Hong Kong while 95.6 per cent said the anti-graft agency deserved their support. The most commonly cited reasons we re “the ICAC had maintained a corruption-free society”, “fairness and justice had been upheld” and “strong deterrence of the ICAC”.
As regards the work of the ICAC, nearly 80 per cent rated ICAC’s anti-corruption work as very effective or quite effective.
Meanwhile, the public was found to be most concerned about corruption in “government officials/civil servants” (26.2 per cent), “construction and engineering industry” (16.7 per cent) and “disciplined services in the Government” (9.9 per cent), mostly due to their likely impact on people’s livelihood and the public interest involved.
The survey also showed that respondents felt that the ICAC should strengthen its education and prevention efforts for “students” (38.9 per cent), “government departments/civil servants/councillors” (35.9 per cent) and “real estate/construction industries” (11.5 per cent).
“The annual survey keeps the ICAC updated on the public’s perception and their concerns over the issue of corruption and ICAC’s work, which are particularly useful in mapping out its anti-corruption education strategy,” said the ICAC spokesperson.
“For example, on the youth education front, the ICAC has launched various anti-corruption activities for tertiary, secondary, primary students and kindergarteners, including animation series, school interactive drama, ‘'91iTeen Leadership Programme’ for senior secondary students and ‘'91ICAC Ambassador Programme’ for tertiary students.
“Collaborating with the Civil Service Bureau, the ICAC has organised training programmes for civil servants of different ranks with an aim to maintain an efficient and clean civil service. Besides, the Commission has planned to strengthen corruption preve ntion for the construction industry and will introduce a training package for this sector later this year,” the spokesperson added.
A total of 1,482 persons were randomly selected by a professional polling agency commissioned by the ICAC to conduct a household survey between October and December in 2013.
Over 80 per cent of respondents said they were ready to report any instances of corruption –'96 a highest percentage ever recorded since 2009; 12.5 per cent replied it would depend on circumstances; 4.9 per cent said they would not report at all.
Among those who were reluctant to report corruption, “having no time to report the case”, “worry of affecting safety of respondents themselves and their families” and “worry that reporting/investigation procedures were troublesome” were major reasons given.
On the perceived prevalence of corruption, 64.9 per cent of respondents considered corruption was not common in Hong Kong while 29.1 per cent held opposite views.
However, when asked about their actual experience, the vast majority of respondents or 98.8 per cent confirmed that they had not encountered corruption in the past 12 months. 96.6 per cent said their relatives and friends also had not come across corrupt ion over the same period of time.
“Despite the drop in corruption reports received by the ICAC last year, the annual survey reveals that the percentage of respondents willing to report corruption is the highest in the past five years, reflecting that the public continues to embrace the cor e value of probity, and demonstrates confidence in ICAC’s anti-graft work,” said an ICAC spokesperson.
“Only 1.2 per cent said they had experienced corruption, indicating that Hong Kong remains a clean society.”
The poll also found the public showed distain for corruption. Using a 0-10 point scale to measure people’s tolerance of graft, with 0 representing total rejection and 10 representing total tolerance, a mean score of 0.8 was registered, same as 2012.
The proportion of respondents of opting for total rejection, or 0 score, was 82.4 per cent, the highest percentage in the past four years.
Besides, nearly all respondents or 99.1 per cent agreed that keeping Hong Kong corruption-free was important to the overall development of Hong Kong while 95.6 per cent said the anti-graft agency deserved their support. The most commonly cited reasons we re “the ICAC had maintained a corruption-free society”, “fairness and justice had been upheld” and “strong deterrence of the ICAC”.
As regards the work of the ICAC, nearly 80 per cent rated ICAC’s anti-corruption work as very effective or quite effective.
Meanwhile, the public was found to be most concerned about corruption in “government officials/civil servants” (26.2 per cent), “construction and engineering industry” (16.7 per cent) and “disciplined services in the Government” (9.9 per cent), mostly due to their likely impact on people’s livelihood and the public interest involved.
The survey also showed that respondents felt that the ICAC should strengthen its education and prevention efforts for “students” (38.9 per cent), “government departments/civil servants/councillors” (35.9 per cent) and “real estate/construction industries” (11.5 per cent).
“The annual survey keeps the ICAC updated on the public’s perception and their concerns over the issue of corruption and ICAC’s work, which are particularly useful in mapping out its anti-corruption education strategy,” said the ICAC spokesperson.
“For example, on the youth education front, the ICAC has launched various anti-corruption activities for tertiary, secondary, primary students and kindergarteners, including animation series, school interactive drama, ‘'91iTeen Leadership Programme’ for senior secondary students and ‘'91ICAC Ambassador Programme’ for tertiary students.
“Collaborating with the Civil Service Bureau, the ICAC has organised training programmes for civil servants of different ranks with an aim to maintain an efficient and clean civil service. Besides, the Commission has planned to strengthen corruption preve ntion for the construction industry and will introduce a training package for this sector later this year,” the spokesperson added.