Over 80 pct HK people willing to report graft: survey

More than 80 percent respondents said they were ready to report any instances of corruption, a highest percentage ever recorded in Hong Kong since 2009, according to a survey which was made public on Wednesday.

The Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) conducted a household survey between October and December in 2013, with a total of 1,482 local residents interviewed.

The annual survey indicated that the vast majority of respondents had not come across corruption last year. More than 80 percent of the respondents were willing to report should they encounter graft; 12.5 percent replied it would depend on circumstances; 4.9 percent 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 percent of the respondents said corruption was not common in Hong Kong while 29.1 percent held opposite views.

When asked about their actual experience, the vast majority of respondents or 98.8 percent confirmed that they had not encountered corruption in the past 12 months. 96.6 percent said their relatives and friends also had not come across corruption 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 core value of probity, and demonstrates confidence in ICAC's anti-graft work," said an ICAC spokesperson.

"Only 1.2 percent said they had experienced corruption, indicating that Hong Kong remains a clean society," he said.

Nearly all respondents or 99.1 percent agreed that keeping Hong Kong corruption-free was important to the overall development of Hong Kong.

As regards the work of the ICAC, nearly 80 percent rated ICAC's anti-corruption work as very effective or quite effective.