Hong Kong remains clean and fair despite rise in graft reports
2016-1-19
Hong Kong remained an internationally acclaimed clean and fair city with a very low level of corruption, even with more graft reports reaching the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in the past year, said the Advisory Committee on Corruption (ACOC) Chairman Mr Chow Chung-kong.
Speaking at a press conference today (Tuesday), Mr Chow said according to the 2015 ICAC Annual Survey, only 1.3 per cent of the respondents had come across corruption in the past 12 months, representing a 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous year.
In 2015, the ICAC received 2,798 corruption complaints, a rise of 18 per cent compared to 2,363 complaints received in 2014, with pursuable complaints increased by 25 per cent from 1,561 to 1,950.
Of those corruption complaints, 65 per cent or 1,831 concerned the private sector, 28 per cent or 767 were against government departments, and 7 per cent or 200 involved public bodies, a pattern consistent with that of recent years, Mr Chow said.
Mr Chow noted that the increase in graft reports should not be interpreted in a pejorative sense. Rather, it could be attributed to the ICAC’s continuous publicity campaign in the past year to encourage the public to report corruption.
Noting that tender-rigging in the building management sector had caused particular public concern in recent years, Mr Chow said the ICAC had set up a dedicated task force to detect and tackle the problem by focusing on investigations involving notorious companies and personnel active in the industry. If circumstances warranted, early enforcement action might be taken to combat any unlawful activities relating to bid rigging at the tendering stage.
Joining Mr Chow at the annual press conference to review their roles in monitoring the work of the ICAC’s three departments were Miss Maria Tam Wai-chu, Chairman of the Operations Review Committee (ORC); Mr Albert Au Siu-cheung, Chairman of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee (CPAC); and Professor John Leong Chi-yan, former Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations (CACCR).
Echoing Mr Chow’s view that Hong Kong’s graft situation remained stable and well under control, Miss Tam noted that ICAC investigators’ perseverance and professionalism were instrumental to making progress in investigations and bringing offenders to justice.
In 2015, the number of persons convicted rose by 24 per cent from 172 to 213. The person-based conviction rate and the case-based conviction rate both maintained at high levels of over 80 per cent.
Miss Tam noted that while there were isolated prosecutions involving government officials, members of the civil service generally measured up to the very high standard of integrity and probity expected of them.
As regards the private sector, the ICAC remained alert to opportunities for corruption, especially when publicly listed companies were involved, and continued to take robust action so as to maintain a level-playing field for doing business in Hong Kong, Miss Tam added.
The ORC Chairman also assured that substantial resources were deployed by the ICAC to handle complaints alleging corrupt and illegal conduct in the 2015 District Council Election, Rural Representative Election and Rural Committee Election.
Further elaborating findings of the 2015 ICAC Annual Survey, former CACCR Chairman Professor Leong noted that results of the poll bore testimony to the ICAC’s staunch efforts over the years in nurturing a culture of integrity and gaining full public support.
In the latest annual survey, almost all respondents (99 per cent) considered that keeping Hong Kong corruption-free was important to the overall development of Hong Kong. A vast majority of respondents (97 per cent) considered the ICAC deserving their support.
The public also remained highly intolerant to corruption. On a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 representing total rejection and 10 representing total acceptance of corruption, the mean score for 2015 was 0.6, the lowest score since the question was first raised in 2010, said Professor Leong.
Professor Leong noted that in 2015, adopting the “Ethics for All” strategy, the Community Relations Department (CRD) continued to formulate and implement effective education and publicity strategies for different sectors of the community. The mass and new media was fully utilised to maximise the publicity impact.
In 2016, the CRD would embark on several initiatives including launching a territory-wide “All for Integrity” education programme; telecasting the drama series ICAC Investigators 2016; and setting up a Youth Chapter under the ICAC Club, a voluntary group for promoting civic participation in anti-corruption activities.
On the preventive front, CPAC Chairman Mr Au said the committee fully supported the Corruption Prevention Department’s (CPD) partnership and proactive approaches in enhancing the governance and internal control of both public and private organisations, and according work priorities to areas of public concern or significant public interest.
In 2015, the CPD joined hands with the Hong Kong Council of Social Service to formulate sample codes of conducts respectively for board members and staff of about 500 non-governmental organisations with a view to strengthening their governance.
A corruption prevention training package for the catering industry was also launched to guard against corruption risks in its operations.
Looking ahead, Mr Au said in 2016 the CPD would provide corruption prevention services for mega infrastructural projects which involved substantial amount of public money. It would also develop and promulgate a corruption prevention guide on the outsourcing of public medical services through the public private partnership approach by the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority.
The Department would continue to assist private organisations, such as the retail industry, in enhancing their governance and internal controls.
In view of the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympic Games, integrity management briefings for committee members of national sports associations would be held to raise their corruption prevention awareness in relation to the selection of athletes.
Speaking at a press conference today (Tuesday), Mr Chow said according to the 2015 ICAC Annual Survey, only 1.3 per cent of the respondents had come across corruption in the past 12 months, representing a 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous year.
In 2015, the ICAC received 2,798 corruption complaints, a rise of 18 per cent compared to 2,363 complaints received in 2014, with pursuable complaints increased by 25 per cent from 1,561 to 1,950.
Of those corruption complaints, 65 per cent or 1,831 concerned the private sector, 28 per cent or 767 were against government departments, and 7 per cent or 200 involved public bodies, a pattern consistent with that of recent years, Mr Chow said.
Mr Chow noted that the increase in graft reports should not be interpreted in a pejorative sense. Rather, it could be attributed to the ICAC’s continuous publicity campaign in the past year to encourage the public to report corruption.
Noting that tender-rigging in the building management sector had caused particular public concern in recent years, Mr Chow said the ICAC had set up a dedicated task force to detect and tackle the problem by focusing on investigations involving notorious companies and personnel active in the industry. If circumstances warranted, early enforcement action might be taken to combat any unlawful activities relating to bid rigging at the tendering stage.
Joining Mr Chow at the annual press conference to review their roles in monitoring the work of the ICAC’s three departments were Miss Maria Tam Wai-chu, Chairman of the Operations Review Committee (ORC); Mr Albert Au Siu-cheung, Chairman of the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee (CPAC); and Professor John Leong Chi-yan, former Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Relations (CACCR).
Echoing Mr Chow’s view that Hong Kong’s graft situation remained stable and well under control, Miss Tam noted that ICAC investigators’ perseverance and professionalism were instrumental to making progress in investigations and bringing offenders to justice.
In 2015, the number of persons convicted rose by 24 per cent from 172 to 213. The person-based conviction rate and the case-based conviction rate both maintained at high levels of over 80 per cent.
Miss Tam noted that while there were isolated prosecutions involving government officials, members of the civil service generally measured up to the very high standard of integrity and probity expected of them.
As regards the private sector, the ICAC remained alert to opportunities for corruption, especially when publicly listed companies were involved, and continued to take robust action so as to maintain a level-playing field for doing business in Hong Kong, Miss Tam added.
The ORC Chairman also assured that substantial resources were deployed by the ICAC to handle complaints alleging corrupt and illegal conduct in the 2015 District Council Election, Rural Representative Election and Rural Committee Election.
Further elaborating findings of the 2015 ICAC Annual Survey, former CACCR Chairman Professor Leong noted that results of the poll bore testimony to the ICAC’s staunch efforts over the years in nurturing a culture of integrity and gaining full public support.
In the latest annual survey, almost all respondents (99 per cent) considered that keeping Hong Kong corruption-free was important to the overall development of Hong Kong. A vast majority of respondents (97 per cent) considered the ICAC deserving their support.
The public also remained highly intolerant to corruption. On a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 representing total rejection and 10 representing total acceptance of corruption, the mean score for 2015 was 0.6, the lowest score since the question was first raised in 2010, said Professor Leong.
Professor Leong noted that in 2015, adopting the “Ethics for All” strategy, the Community Relations Department (CRD) continued to formulate and implement effective education and publicity strategies for different sectors of the community. The mass and new media was fully utilised to maximise the publicity impact.
In 2016, the CRD would embark on several initiatives including launching a territory-wide “All for Integrity” education programme; telecasting the drama series ICAC Investigators 2016; and setting up a Youth Chapter under the ICAC Club, a voluntary group for promoting civic participation in anti-corruption activities.
On the preventive front, CPAC Chairman Mr Au said the committee fully supported the Corruption Prevention Department’s (CPD) partnership and proactive approaches in enhancing the governance and internal control of both public and private organisations, and according work priorities to areas of public concern or significant public interest.
In 2015, the CPD joined hands with the Hong Kong Council of Social Service to formulate sample codes of conducts respectively for board members and staff of about 500 non-governmental organisations with a view to strengthening their governance.
A corruption prevention training package for the catering industry was also launched to guard against corruption risks in its operations.
Looking ahead, Mr Au said in 2016 the CPD would provide corruption prevention services for mega infrastructural projects which involved substantial amount of public money. It would also develop and promulgate a corruption prevention guide on the outsourcing of public medical services through the public private partnership approach by the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority.
The Department would continue to assist private organisations, such as the retail industry, in enhancing their governance and internal controls.
In view of the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympic Games, integrity management briefings for committee members of national sports associations would be held to raise their corruption prevention awareness in relation to the selection of athletes.