After four decades of dedicated efforts and concerted with staunch public support, Hong Kong has evolved from a corruption-plagued city to a clean society. Today Hong Kong is internationally recognised as a pioneer in graft-fighting and a model of success in curbing corruption.

In the 1960s and 1970s, bribery was part of people’s lives. There seemed to be no way to escape it. Today, syndicated corruption was eradicated with no sign of resurgence. Hong Kong people generally take pride in embracing integrity as our core value. As founding Commissioner of the ICAC Sir Jack Cater had aptly remarked, Hong Kong had undergone a “quiet revolution” in successfully turning the tides in the community.

Today, when you talk to people on the streets, you will find that they are intolerant of corruption and are most willing to report suspected graft to the ICAC. According to the latest ICAC Annual Survey, of the 1,500-odd respondents only 1.1% indicated they had encountered corruption in the past 12 months, registering a drop from 1.8% from 2012. Regarding the experience of their friends and relatives, 0.6% said they had come across corruption, a big drop from 2.5% in 2012. These findings showed that our society is very clean. In addition, about 81% of respondents were willing to report corruption, a record high percentage in the past four years.

We must always be vigilant in safeguarding our clean society which we had fought hard to build up. There is no room for complacency. At the same time, we should take pride in our society which has been continuously rated as one of the cleanest places in various international surveys. An opinion survey conducted by The University of Hong Kong last year found that most people would opt for a bribery-free society, further attesting that the core value of probity has taken root in Hong Kong. For ICAC officers dedicated to the cause of anti-corruption, we feel encouraged and motivated.

While the ICAC’s good reputation has been impaired by the recent incident involving my predecessor, I am glad that ICAC staff are able to stand in unity and rise up to the challenges. Through a series of improvement measures, good governance has been restored. On the other hand, we are also keeping up with times in educating the public, the youth in particular, through the new media and other community activities. We hope that public confidence in the ICAC will soon be restored.

Some recent ICAC cases involving some former and incumbent high ranking officials, as well as top management of publicly listed companies had aroused immense public concern. In fact, the detection of such cases bore testimony to the independent status of the ICAC. The ICAC pursues all corruption cases in strict accordance with the law in an impartial and fair manner, regardless of the official ranks and social status of the persons involved. That said, those are only individual cases and that Hong Kong’s civil service remains very clean.

Corruption is becoming increasingly secretive. With advanced technology, criminals are able to operate across the globe without the constraints of boundaries, posing more challenges to investigations. About a year and a half ago when I first joined the ICAC, I was saddened by the passing away of a Chief Investigator who was then working on a corruption and money laundering case involving senior banking staff. Recently, there have been new developments in tracking down an absconded suspect in this case and the ICAC has taken swift action to commence the legal proceedings to extradite the fugitive to bring him to justice, once again demonstrating our officers’ perseverance and professionalism.

Looking back, Hong Kong’s anti-corruption efforts in the past forty years had come across various challenges. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tributes to our “pioneer graft-fighters”, and express my heartfelt thanks to my serving colleagues of all ranks. Shoulder to shoulder, we have overcome many challenges. With determination and perseverance, and together with public support, I am confident we will rise up to challenges ahead and make further advances in anti-corruption work.

Today is very special. It is Valentine’s Day, as well as the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival. It is also the day commemorating the 40th anniversary of the ICAC. While we enjoy the festivities, let us cherish our hard-earned achievements as a clean society. To let our citizens learn more about Hong Kong’s anti-corruption history and developments, the ICAC will host an Open Day on the two coming weekends to mark our anniversary.

We are prepared to continue our contribution in anti-corruption in welcoming our next 40 years. The ICAC will continue to uphold fairness and independence, keep up with times and strive for excellence. We are committed as ever to serving the Hong Kong community and passing on to our future generations the treasured value of integrity.

	ICAC Commissioner