EFFECTIVE PRACTICES OF ANTI-CORRUPTION EDUCATION:
HONG KONGʼS EXPERIENCE
Corinna Wong＊

I. INTRODUCTION
The fight against corruption is always more than bringing culprits to justice and plugging loopholes
conducive to the crime. It is also about changing peopleʼs attitudes towards corruption and misconduct.
Corruption perpetuates if the population tolerates it and sees it as a way of life. On the other hand, in acommunity with a strong probity culture, people are more likely to appreciate fair competition, reject bribery,
and cooperate with law enforcement agencies when encountering corruption. Public support is therefore
fundamental to the success of an anti-corruption campaign.
Hong Kong has come a long way in changing peopleʼs attitude towards corruption from “passive
acceptance” to “zero tolerance”. Since its inception in 1974, the Independent Commission Against Corruption(ICAC) of Hong Kong has been required by law, among other things, to educate the public against the evils ofcorruption, as well as to enlist and foster public support in combating corruption. These statutory duties echo
the requirements in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which applies to Hong
Kong as part of the Peopleʼs Republic of China, for promoting good practices in the public and private sectors
and active participation of society in the prevention of and the fight against corruption.
The ICAC carries out its education function through its Community Relations Department (CRD). The
CRD is currently staffed by around 170 members working in the headquarters and seven regional offices.
With the “Ethics for All” mission, the CRD aims at gaining the support of the public from all walks of life inmaintaining high ethical standards, showing zero tolerance of graft, and reporting corruption wherever it
occurs. It reaches virtually every sector of the society through four effective strategies, which aresummarised in the acronym “TAPE”:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

Target-oriented strategy ̶ to customise anti-corruption services for different target groups.
All-round communication strategy ̶ to integrate face-to-face contacts with multimedia publicity
to spread the probity messages to people from all walks of life through multiple platforms.
Partnership strategy ̶ to partner with different stakeholders in the community to promote
integrity.
Engagement strategy ̶ to engage members of the public to take ownership of the anti-corruption
cause and garner their support for preventive education activities.

This paper outlines how these strategies have been carried out in the anti-corruption education of Hong
Kong during recent years, including what factors have been considered in devising action plans and allocating
resources, as well as how the anti-corruption messages are conveyed to the target audiences.

II. FROM STRATEGIES TO ACTION: FACTORS CONSIDERED
The CRD considers a number of factors when putting the anti-corruption education strategies into
practice. A few significant factors are discussed below. The social environment in which people perceive
corruption and react to it evolves over time. The awareness of and need for anti-corruption education are also
different among segments of the community. Therefore, the tactics adopted for different targets have to be
kept adjusted in light of the changing environment. Indeed, the rule of thumb is keeping up with the times.

Assistant Director, Community Relations Department, Independent Commission Against Corruption, Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, China.
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A. Corruption Trend
Anti-corruption education cannot succeed in the long run if it is not extended to every corner of thecommunity. Nevertheless, in order to maximise its impact despite limited resources, priority has to be given
to areas in which corruption is more likely to occur or its consequences are more detrimental to livelihood. In
Hong Kong, the corruption trend remains largely steady in the past decade. Corruption complaints received
by the ICAC each year have been kept below 3,000. Around one-third of these complaints concern the public
sector, while the remaining two-thirds are related to the private sector. Trades attracting more corruption
complaints include finance and insurance, construction and catering. Cases in which senior government
officials, listed company directors, and/or professionals were involved often caused grave repercussions tosociety, such as huge financial loss to investors, weakened public confidence in the institutions and, on somedrastic occasions like site inspectors being bribed for conniving substandard construction works, a threat to
public safety. The ICAC is mindful of these high-risk corruption areas and accords significant resources totackle them.
B. Peopleʼs Attitudes towards Corruption
How the population perceives corruption and the ICACʼs work is another area to which the ICAC pays
attention. Being mindful of the perception of the public, the CRD tailors publicity and education programmes
to suitably address peopleʼs concerns or blind spots about corruption. An important tool to monitor peopleʼs
attitudes is opinion polls. The ICAC conducts community-wide opinion surveys annually through independent
research firms. The survey results in recent years are in general encouraging: the respondents were on
average nearly zero-tolerant of corruption1; almost all of them had not come across corruption personallyduring the past 12 months; and over 95% of them stated that the ICAC deserved their support.
However, some survey findings reflect that there are still areas requiring the ICACʼs special attention.
For example, a fifth of the respondents were unwilling to report corruption or might report corruption but
depending on circumstances. The reasons for their reluctance were multi-folded, including the idea that
corruption did not concern them, the worry about personal safety and the concern about the time needed formaking a report. In addition, youngsters appear to be less intolerant of corruption than adults2. This may be
due to the fact that youngsters have no personal experience of corruption and consider corruption too remoteto them. The situation has been more challenging in recent years because the general public has become
increasingly divergent in their views on the performance of the government including the ICAC. The ICAC
has therefore strengthened its publicity and education which aims to dispel the misconceptions andconsolidate public confidence in the ICAC.
C. Behavioural Changes of Audiences
The rapid development of communications technology and social media has revolutionised peopleʼsbehaviour in receiving, selecting and handling marketing information. Thanks to smartphones and the highspeed broadband network, many people, in particular youngsters, can conveniently access multimedia
messages anywhere and anytime, promptly connect and share information with each other through social
media, and make comments on current affairs in the online community. Since the new media allows
information to be disseminated much faster and to wider audiences, it can enhance the impact of a publicity
or education campaign greatly if well utilised. In fact, the ICAC has been making extensive efforts in
expanding its reach to the public through the new media. On the other hand, people receive a sheer amount of
information every day and tend to spend shorter time on each piece of information. The ICAC therefore has
to sharpen the contents and enhance the techniques of its online and offline publicity, so as to catch theaudienceʼs attention to the anti-corruption messages more effectively.

III. ANTI-CORRUPTION EDUCATION IN PRACTICE
In order to carry out its anti-corruption work for different sectors of society with customised tactics, theCRD categorises its work into a number of “programme areas” according to target audiences like the youth,
the public sector, business organisations and the general public. While training activities and publicity
For example, in the 2017 survey, on a 0 to 10 point scale where 0 represents total intolerance and 10 represents total tolerance,
the mean score of the respondentsʼ tolerance of corruption was 0.6.
2
In the 2017 survey, the mean score of tolerance of corruption of the respondents aged 15-24 was 1. 0, while that of the
respondents aged 25-64 was 0.6.
1

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projects are usually organised under a programme area, there is much collaboration across programme areas
for achieving synergy in publicity impact. This part will give an overview of the major programme areas,highlighting their features and tactics and illustrated with examples of significant initiatives.
A. Promoting Positive Values: Young Generation
The ICAC believes that anti-corruption training, and moral education in a wider sense, should begin withthe young generation. Being the future of society, the young generation which treasures the probity culture isfundamental to the fight against corruption in the long run. The more determined they are to live by upright
personality such as integrity, fairness and honesty, the more likely that they are resistant to corruption andethical challenges. Preventive corruption is also necessary for Hong Kong young people because they, as
mentioned above, appear to be less intolerant of corruption. The ICAC must help them realise that it wasnever easy to build a society with strong probity culture, and they have a role in safeguarding Hong Kongʼs
hard-earned success.
The CRD promotes positive values to the young generation with the following four tactics, which will be
explained below:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

Inculcation of positive values at different developmental stages of the youth;
Co-creation and engagement;
Alignment with school curriculum; andCollaboration with stakeholders.

1. Inculcation of Positive Values at Different Developmental Stages of the YouthThe messages and means of the ICACʼs preventive education for the youth are customised according to
the youngstersʼ developmental stages. For kindergarten and primary school students (aged 3-11), themessages are simple, focusing on fundamental moral virtues such as honesty, fairness, responsibility and selfdiscipline. Cartoon characters, including a flying rabbit named “Gee-dor-dor”, which literally means “The
Quick-witted”, are created and featured in the ICACʼs teaching packages, cartoon books and worksheets.
These iconic figures also appear in the animations broadcast via television and Internet.
For those studying in secondary schools (aged 12-17), training topics are extended to the evils ofcorruption, the anti-corruption legislation and how to make an ethical decision. Teaching packages in line withthe school curriculum, which will be further elaborated below, are developed for teachersʼ use. While schools
may conduct the training on their own, they may also invite the CRD officers to give anti-corruption talks totheir students. To make the training even more interesting, schools may arrange interactive drama
performances, organised by the CRD and performed by professional troupes, for their students at school halls.
They may also arrange visits to the headquarters of the ICAC to enrich their studentsʼ learning experienceand understanding of the anti-corruption work.
In comparison with teenagers, university students (aged 18 and above) possess the intelligence andcapability required for more in-depth integrity training. ICAC talks on professional or work ethics, and thelegal requirements against bribery have formed part of many undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
The CRD also organises workshops on handling ethical dilemmas at universities to enhance studentsʼ
personal ethics and capability of resisting temptation.
2. Co-creation and Engagement
Apart from conveying the messages with conventional, “passive” learning methods such as lectures andtalks, the CRD has been developing projects in which the students are heavily engaged. With active
involvement in these educational activities over a longer period of time, the students learn, consolidate andinternalise the positive values. Creativity is often featured in these co-creation projects and activities. For
example, a multimedia production project was organised in primary schools in 2016-17. Under the project,primary school students joined a competition in teams to produce videos on integrity themes under theguidance of their teachers and parents. Many of these videos were presented as short stories featuring theimportance of positive values such as fairness, honesty and responsibility. The students also promoted
integrity messages on campus through quizzes, games and video programmes broadcast inside their schools.
For secondary schools, an “iTeen Leadership Programme” has been organised since 2013. Over 500
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students are recruited from secondary schools as “iTeen Leaders” every year to assist their teachers inorganising activities, such as exhibitions, booth games, film shows and competitions, in their schools to
promote integrity. The CRD supports the students in areas such as training and contents of the activities.
Training sessions are organised for the students to have an overview of the ICAC, build up the team spirit
and develop public speaking skills. The students may also join a job shadowing programme to observe thework of CRD officers. Through actively participating and assisting in these activities, the students know
more about the work of the ICAC and are more aware of the evils of corruption. They also consolidate theirown positive values when disseminating integrity messages to their fellow schoolmates.
3. Alignment with School Curricula
In Hong Kong, schools operated or subsidised by the government adopt the curricula devised by anindependent advisory body appointed by the administration. The ICACʼs moral education packages andprogrammes are developed in alignment with these curricula for pre-primary, primary and secondary
education, so that teachers can incorporate these resources into their teaching work. For example, seniorsecondary school students are required under the curriculum to study the “Liberal Studies” subject, in which
topics like respect for the rule of law, fair society as a safeguard for quality of life, as well as integrity as afundamental value for interpersonal relationships, are discussed. In order to assist teachers to teach thissubject, the CRD developed a teaching package explaining the anti-corruption work in Hong Kong, the evils ofcorruption and ways to handle ethical challenges. The package is based on episodes of the ICACʼs television
drama series, and provides teachers with lesson plans, videos, presentation materials and worksheets. In
addition, the above-mentioned iTeen Leadership Programme can form part of the studentsʼ “Other Learning
Experiences”, a component of senior secondary school curriculum which aims to nurture the studentsʼ wholeperson development through active involvement in activities.
4. Collaboration with Stakeholders
There are over 1.6 million young people aged below 25 in Hong Kong. Since it is difficult for the ICAC toreach all the youngsters on its own, teachers and parents become an important link between the ICAC andthe youngsters. They have been the ICACʼs strategic partners in preventive education in many ways. When
the CRD develops teaching packages, teachers are consulted to ensure that the packages suit their teaching
objectives and studentsʼ needs. There are also active platforms for the ICAC and the stakeholders to shareresources and exchange views about moral education. The CRD organises seminars for teachers to discuss
topical issues on moral education and introduce its teaching packages. It publishes a triannual periodical
containing articles on moral education contributed by teachers, parents, social workers, researchers andstudents. Training videos on values education, teaching materials based on the latest integrity-related news
and interviews with persons with stories about positive values are also made. All these materials can be
downloaded, free of charge, from the ICACʼs online resource centre “Moral Education Web”. The CRD also
taps the expertise and resources of other strategic partners, such as universities, youth bodies and nongovernmental organisations, by co-organising publicity projects. This creates synergy of the variousorganisationsʼ efforts in promoting positive values to the youth.
5. Showcase 1: ICAC Ambassador Programme
Among the ICACʼs diversified efforts in promoting positive values, the ICAC Ambassador Programme foruniversity students should be explained more specifically for it is a good example of integrating various
strategies and tactics in a single project. Since 2007, the CRD has recruited every year a team of students ineach of the participating tertiary institutions (i.e. universities and other institutions which award university
degrees) as “ICAC Ambassadors”, who are tasked to organise activities to promote integrity among theirpeers. At the start of the programme, the Ambassadors need to attend training sessions, in which they learn
the basic knowledge of the ICAC and anti-corruption laws, join team-building exercises and sharpen skills inorganising projects. Subsequently each team is given a small budget to devise an activity plan and implement
it. While conventional activities such as exhibitions on the ICAC and quizzes introducing anti-corruption laws
are organised, the Ambassadors often come up with activities which are very creative and interesting. For
example, they produced videos featuring street interviews, short dramas and dances with integrity themes.
Being the digital generation, the Ambassadors also skilfully utilise online and offline platforms in their
publicity campaigns. Social media like Facebook and Instagram are widely used to publicise their activities totheir peers.
The tertiary institutions are supportive of the ICAC Ambassador Programme. In the 2017/18 academic
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year, all the 20 tertiary institutions in Hong Kong joined the programme as co-organisers. They helped recruit
students to the teams, worked with CRD officers on coaching the Ambassadors in planning and implementing
activities, and provided activity venues and other administrative support to the Ambassadors.
What makes this programme significant is not only the vast size of students reached, although the figures
themselves are impressive. Between 2007 and 2018, more than 1,200 university students served as ICAC
Ambassadors, and their campus activities reached over 220,000 students. More importantly, by engaging
these dedicated and energetic university students as ICAC Ambassadors, the CRD lets them have personal
experience in promoting anti-corruption messages together with the ICAC. These future leaders will be more
likely to uphold integrity as their core value and support the ICAC and its anti-corruption work in their
lifetime. In order to sustain the ties with the Ambassadors, a network i-League was formed, through whichveteran and current Ambassadors can receive further training or join volunteer activities organised by the
CRD. For example, i-League members may work as full-time voluntary helpers of the CRD during thesummer vacation. These helpers are attached to various units of the CRD, where they work closely with CRD
officers to carry out projects to promote integrity. Many of them have established personal friendships with
CRD officers, and become loyal supporters of the ICAC. A few of them even joined the Operations
Department of the ICAC after graduation and are pursuing their careers as graft-fighters.
6. Showcase 2: Youth Integrity Fest Programme
Another recent example showing the integration of strategies in the anti-corruption work for the youth is
the two-year “Youth Integrity Fest Programme” rolled out in 2017. The programme involved youngsters at
different stages of schooling with the four beliefs, namely Integrity, Creativity, Art and Collaboration.
Component activities included a collaborative art project for primary school students, a photo-taking activity
for secondary school students and the above-mentioned ICAC Ambassador Programme. A carnival-type fest
was hosted to galvanise the youngsters to spread positive values through photography, creative arts andcrafts activities and stage performances by young artists with positive images. Creativity, which was madethe theme of the programme, appealed much to youngsters. The programme was also successful for its
diversity in participantsʼ ages and activity formats. The various activities attracted wide participation bysome 73,000 people. In addition, around 460,000 people were reached through the programme website andsocial media publicity.
Despite the extensive youth education programmes in place, the CRD has been exploring new areas inpromoting positive values to the youngsters. The CRD has recently launched a youth chapter under its
volunteer team “ICAC Club” to encourage youngsters to disseminate probity messages through community
services. Innovative technologies and creative ideas will also be used in the CRDʼs educational initiatives, sothat the ICAC and its anti-corruption messages will stay close to the young generation.
B. Promoting Clean Civil Service: Public Sector
Corruption in the public sector in Hong Kong was rampant during the 1970s. In 1974, the year when the
ICAC was established, over 85% of the corruption reports received were related to government departments.
Corruption involving a large number of public servants was uncovered from time to time. After years ofefforts by the ICAC and the government, the Hong Kong civil service is now efficient and clean. There is nosign of a revival of syndicated corruption in the government.
It is not difficult for one to recognise the evils of public sector corruption: government inefficiency, loss of
public resources, social unfairness and, in extreme cases, threats to human lives. Article 7 of UNCAC also
underlines the importance of anti-corruption education for the civil service3. It is therefore a priority of the
ICAC and the Hong Kong government to promote and sustain a clean and honest public sector culture. The
ICAC works for this goal with three tactics, namely partnership, leadership and ownership.

Article 7 of UNCAC stipulates that “each State Party shall... endeavour to adopt, maintain and strengthen systems for the
recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion and retirement of civil servants... that promote education and training programmes toenable them to meet the requirements for the correct, honourable and proper performance of public functions and that provide
them with specialized and appropriate training to enhance their awareness of the risks of corruption inherent in theperformance of their functions...”3

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1. Partnership
Since the ICAC is an independent anti-corruption agency operating outside the civil service, it needs towork with government departments when providing anti-corruption training to civil servants. There areover 70 policy bureaux, departments and agencies in the government, staffed by over 170,000 people. The
Civil Service Bureau (CSB) is the governmentʼs policy bureau which assumes overall policy responsibility forthe management of the civil service, including appointment, staff management, training and discipline.
Individual departments are responsible for the daily management of their own staff. Training for civil
servants is carried out by both the CSB, through its “Civil Service Training and Development Institute”, andindividual departments. The ICAC has long worked closely with individual government departments inoffering anti-corruption training. In the recent decade, such efforts have been made more structured andcomprehensive by strengthening the partnership with the CSB in promoting ethical leadership.
2. Leadership
The ICACʼs educational work for the civil service nowadays emphasises not only civil servantsʼ
responsibilities of observing anti-corruption laws and regulations, but also the importance of building an
ethical culture in the government. As determination, coordination and resources are required for thegovernment to achieve this goal, the leadership and commitment of the senior management becomes vital.
The senior management of government departments now keep a dialogue with the ICAC over integrityrelated matters. Liaison groups are formed between individual government departments and the ICAC for
their senior representatives to exchange views on integrity management, such as review of internal
procedures for preventing corruption, anti-corruption training programmes and other conduct and discipline
matters. The ICAC also conducts regular briefings for top officials to enhance their understanding of the anticorruption laws and regulations, and to remind them of the importance of properly managing conflicts ofinterest. With the senior management who support and practise a high level of integrity, an ethical culture is
being developed in the government departments.
3. Ownership
An ethical culture cannot take root in an organisation if the people there do not think they own it. The
ICAC therefore encourages government departments to formulate their own plans for integrity management
according to the actual situations, such as what functional areas are more vulnerable to corrupt practice,what training the staff need, and what resources are available to implement the proposals, etc. It is notnecessary that projects promoting an ethical culture must be initiated only by the management. Staff
members may also, with the support from their departments and the ICAC, organise their own activities topromote integrity among their peers. Past examples included video production, sports competitions andslogan design competitions with integrity-related themes.
In order to strengthen the government departmentsʼ sense of ownership in their ethics promotion work,
each department is required to send a summary to the CSB and the ICAC every two years to list its efforts inbuilding the departmentʼs ethical culture, such as review of the code of conduct, training activities as well as
studies in improving procedures for preventing corruption. In fact, most of the government departments now
formulate integrity programme plans periodically so as to monitor and improve their integrity-building
efforts in a more structured way.
4. Showcase: Ethical Leadership Programme
The above three tactics can be best illustrated by the “Ethical Leadership Programme”, a project jointly
organised by the ICAC and the CSB with an aim to consolidate the value of integrity in the civil service
through leadership and commitment of the senior management of government departments. Under the
programme, a directorate officer is appointed as “Ethics Officer” in each government department to takecharge of all integrity-related activities. Roles and responsibilities of an Ethics Officer include reviewing thedepartmentʼs codes of conduct and procedures from the corruption prevention angle, building an integrity
culture through training and other activities, and handling referrals about corruption and misconduct fromand to the law enforcement agencies.
Support and assistance are given to the government departments and their Ethics Officers in a number of
aspects. For example, the ICAC and the CSB organise thematic seminars on topical issues about civil service
integrity, such as the latest development in anti-corruption laws, the offence of misconduct in public office,contract management, conflict of interest and supervisorsʼ responsibilities of overseeing staff integrity. An
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intranet was created for the Ethics Officers for sharing the up-to-date information and reference materials.
The ICAC, through its Corruption Prevention Department, reviews the government departmentsʼ
procedures and gives advice on preventing corruption.
The ICAC provides government departments with training activities in various topics and formats. Since
civil servantsʼ corrupt practices and misconduct now often appear in the form beyond mere bribery, training
topics have been extended from anti-corruption laws and regulations to issues like conflicts of interest, abuseof authority and poor staff management. Government departments are encouraged to arrange anticorruption training for the serving staff, in addition to new recruits, at a regular interval.
Apart from lectures, anti-corruption training is now conducted in other formats. The ICAC joined handswith the CSB to roll out a “Web Learning Portal on Integrity Management” in the cyber-learning centre forcivil servants. Moreover, government departments promote to their staff a healthy lifestyle, which helps theemployees resist the temptation of corruption and misconduct. Sports and leisure activities are organisedamong the staff, sometimes with anti-corruption messages incorporated. All these diversified efforts show thedetermination of the ICAC and the government departments to sustain the probity culture within the civil
service.
C. Promoting Business Ethics: Business Sector
Hong Kong is one of the best places in the world to do business. It was ranked by the 2018 World
Competitiveness Yearbook of the International Institute of Management Development as the second mostcompetitive place internationally. This achievement is contributed to by a number of factors, including theexistence of a level-playing field for businesses in a corruption-free society. In spite of this, the business sector
is still one of the key target groups of the ICACʼs anti-corruption education. It is because around two-thirds ofthe corruption complaints received by the ICAC in recent years are related to the private sector, of whichbusiness organisations have a large share. The repercussions caused by business-sector corruption to society
are no less severe than those taking place in the civil service. Anti-corruption education in the business sector
also helps the ICAC fulfil the requirements of Article 12 of UNCAC concerning the partnership with theprivate sector4.
The ICAC has gone much beyond merely reminding business practitioners of complying with legal andregulatory requirements against bribery. Since the early 1990s, the ICAC has been promoting business andprofessional ethics as the first line of defence against corruption. The mission of building a clean corporate
culture is carried out by the ICACʼs Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC). The
HKBEDC adopts the following three tactics in its work:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

Public-private partnership;
Client-focused services; andEthics resources.

1. Public‒Private Partnership
The ICAC is one of the pioneers in promoting business ethics through the partnership between a law
enforcement agency and the business community. The HKBEDC has secured firm support from chambers ofcommerce, professional bodies and trade associations in Hong Kong. The work of the HKBEDC is steered byan advisory committee which comprises representatives of the cityʼs ten major local and foreign chambers ofcommerce5. Partnering with industry regulators and professional bodies, the HKBEDC incorporates anticorruption elements into the professional training for company directors and practitioners of various tradesand professions such as law, accountancy, construction, finance and insurance. In some trades, such training
has even been made part of the licensing requirements. From time to time, the HKBEDC organises
educational programmes for specific trades. Many of the key stakeholders in these trades joined theprogrammes as co-organisers, supporters and/or contributors.
The ICACʼs public-private partnership in promoting business ethics is a leading example internationally.
Article 12 of UNCAC stipulates that “each State Party shall take measures... to prevent corruption involving the private
sector.” Measures may include, inter alia, promoting cooperation between law enforcement agencies and relevant private
entities.
4

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Research conducted by the World Bank and the Conference Board commended Hong Kong: “having agovernment agency directly involved in the dissemination of business ethics is quite exceptional worldwide
and reflects the very strong policy of prevention implemented in Hong Kong6”.
2. Client-Focused Services
The preventive services provided by the ICAC to business entities are customised according to theirtrades, sizes and needs. For example, companies may invite the ICAC to conduct staff training in legal andregulatory requirements, managing staff integrity and/or ethical governance. The training usually covers theinformation specific to the company or the trade to which the company belongs, such as corruption-prone
areas of the industry, trade-specific legal and regulatory requirements for practitionersʼ conduct, as well as
ICAC cases related to the trade. Companies may also request the ICACʼs tailor-made consultancy services on
ethical management, such as assisting in formulating/reviewing their code of conduct and advising on
procedures for functional areas like procurement and financial management.
3. Ethics Resources
HKBEDC develops a wide range of resources to assist entrepreneurs, executives, professionals andcompany employees in understanding principles of preventing corruption and practising ethics in thebusiness context. Guidelines, toolkits, training videos, case studies and e-learning packages on preventing
corruption, most of which are tailor-made for different trades, are published. An ethical decision-making
model has been devised for managers and professionals to handle difficult situations where their moral values
are challenged. These resources focus more on practical solutions than theoretical discussion, so as to provide
users with handy tools in dealing with their ethical challenges at work. All of them can be easily downloaded
from the thematic website of the HKBEDC.
4. Showcase: Ethics Promotion Programme for Listed Companies
There are over 2,200 companies listed on the stock exchange of Hong Kong, with a market value of over
US$4, 000 billion (figures as at August 2018). In view of their profound influence on the economy, it isimportant for these companies and their leaders to practise ethical governance to ensure the healthy
development of these enterprises, the stock market and the whole economy. The HKBEDC therefore
launched a three-year Ethics Promotion Programme for Listed Companies in 2015 in collaboration withmarket regulators and professional bodies to promote good corporate governance, enhance the leadersʼpersonal integrity and fortify internal control systems.
Under the programme, the ICAC published guidebooks for directors and senior executives of listedcompanies, explaining the latest legal and regulatory updates on duties of listed company directors, common
corruption risks they faced and ways to implement corporate anti-corruption policies. In addition, theHKBEDC developed a comprehensive training package, which includes training videos and explanatory
notes, to sharpen skills of directors and professionals in upholding corporate governance. A large-scale
conference on business ethics was held for leaders of listed companies and stakeholders to exchange theirexperience in practicing ethical governance. Integrity training programmes are organised for company
directors and related professionals on a regular basis. The co-organisers contribute to the entire programme
in one way or another, such as commenting on drafts of the training package, speaking at the conference,
and/or organising training events with the ICAC.

The ten major chambers of commerce are:
- Federation of Hong Kong Industries,- The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong,- The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce,- The Chinese Manufacturersʼ Association of Hong Kong,- The Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association,- The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce,- The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong,- The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong,- The Hong Kong Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and- The Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong.
6
Jean-François Arvis and Ronald E. Berenbeim, Fighting Corruption in East Asia: Solutions from the Private Sector(Washington, D.C., The World Bank, 2003), p. 85.
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In addition, the ICAC approaches all Hong Kong listed companies, offering them tailor-made ICAC
services for strengthening ethical governance. By September 2018, over 90% of them have been approached.
Since the launch of the programme, more than 900 talks and seminars on corruption prevention and businessethics were conducted for around 34,000 business executives. The companies listed on the stock exchange inthe future will also be approached within three months of their listing.
D. Promoting “All for Integrity”: General Public
Under the “Ethics for All” mission, the ICAC aims to promote integrity to the whole community in HongKong. Community publicity forms a significant part of anti-corruption education because, although education
programmes targeting specific social groups, such as the youth, the civil service and business firms, may
provide more customised and in-depth messages to the audiences, they do not reach every citizen. Moreover,people who do not belong to any particular social groups, such as housewives, retired persons, newimmigrants, are no less vulnerable to corruption and no less important to the fight against it. In fact, theimportance of participation of society in the anti-corruption work is also enshrined in Article 13 of UNCAC7.
In view of the diversity of the 7-million people in Hong Kong, the objectives and messages of community
publicity have to be simple but capable of appealing to the public to support the anti-corruption cause. First,
the publicity aims to increase the public awareness that integrity and fairness is a cornerstone of thedevelopment of Hong Kong. Every citizen has the responsibility to safeguard this hard-earned success.
Second, it tries to reinforce the public confidence that the ICAC continues working hand in hand with citizens
in fighting corruption, without fear or favour. Third, citizens are encouraged to report corruption. Theirreports, which are always handled confidentially, are crucial to cracking down on corruption. Misconceptions
about making reports are also addressed and dispelled in the publicity.
Community publicity is promulgated through multimedia, which will be elaborated further in the nextpart, and face-to-face contacts. In addition to the daily liaison with the general public at the seven regional
offices, the CRD reaches the population through partnering with civil society and engaging passionate
citizens in publicity activities.
1. Partnering with Civil Society
Hong Kong has an active civil society. The government set up 18 elected district councils across the cityand other consultative committees in the neighbourhood with local leaders as members. These bodies serveas the bridge between citizens and the administration, and organise leisure, cultural and community-building
activities to promote the well-being of residents. There are also many non-governmental organisations, suchas residentsʼ associations, clubs, social services centres, voluntary agencies and trade associations. Since allthese local organisations have their own liaison network and resources, it is more cost-effective for the ICAC
to publicise anti-corruption messages in collaboration with them. Over the years, the CRD has establishedclose working relationships with these organisations through paying visits to them, conducting talks or
exchange sessions for their members and organising publicity projects with them.
2. Engaging Passionate Citizens
Apart from spreading anti-corruption messages to wider audiences by partnering with community
organisations, engagement represents another tactic in promoting the probity culture in the community. The
CRD engages citizens who have a passion for building a corruption-free community to assist in its publicity
programmes. Through personal involvement, these citizens will have a stronger sense of ownership of theanti-corruption work and promote the probity culture in their families and among their peers.
3. Showcase 1: “All for Integrity” Programme
A good example to show the scale of the CRDʼs partnership with civil society to maximise the publicity
impact is the multi-year, territory-wide “All for Integrity” Programme launched in 2015. With the support ofover 900 organisations in the community, hundreds of component activities, varying in format and scale, havebeen organised under the programme. There were large-scale events, such as the ICAC Open Day, publicity
booths at the Hong Kong Book Fair (one of the largest exhibition events held annually in Hong Kong) and bus
Article 13 of UNCAC stipulates that “Each state party shall... promote the active participation of individual and groups outside
the public sector, such as civil society, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations, in the prevention ofand the fight against corruption and to raise awareness regarding... corruption.”
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parades across the city, each time reaching thousands of citizens. Some others were more confined toresidents in the neighbourhood, such as game booths, quizzes, day camps, etc. In 2017/18, over 1,600 localorganisations and more than 800,000 people were reached through all these community involvement projects.
Multimedia publicity is an important means to draw the attention of the public to the programme. A
theme song was written for the programme and performed by a pop singer. Videos on interviews withcelebrities, activity highlights and other promotional messages were produced. An iconic figure “iSir”,
modelled on an ICAC investigator, was featured in publicity materials. The programme was advertised
through the online and printed media, such as the ICACʼs website and Facebook fan page, radio, newspapers,
posters and pamphlets.
4. Showcase 2: ICAC ClubThe ICAC Club is the CRDʼs main initiative to engage passionate citizens to actively participate in its
publicity activities. It is a volunteer team under which citizens provide voluntary services in the ICACʼscommunity publicity work. Such voluntary services are multi-faceted, ranging from maintaining order inpublicity events, distributing publicity items to citizens, staging show performances in carnivals to planning
projects with CRD officers. In order to recognise the membersʼ efforts in promoting the anti-corruption cause,
there is an award scheme in which members contributing a certain amount of service hours are commended
by the CRD. The Club members may also join in-house activities organised for them. Examples areorientation courses, training sessions on various skills like story telling and balloon twisting, exchange
sessions with other volunteer teams in the community and annual gatherings for members.
In 2018, the Club has over 2,600 members from all walks of life, including around 1,400 young members
under the youth chapter. Despite the small membership size in comparison with the entire population, theClub members are important to the ICACʼs community publicity work because they are staunch supportersof the ICAC and “multipliers” of anti-corruption messages in the neighbourhood. There is an interesting
example illustrating the enthusiasm of the Club members. A Club member, who is also a community leader
and businessman, dedicated his time and efforts in helping the Club to perform anti-corruption dramas for theaged at elderly homes. Apart from providing assistance in ICAC publicity activities, he also took the initiative
to spread probity messages through his own network by making around 500 “mooncakes”, a Chinese bakery
product for celebrating a traditional festival in autumn, showing anti-corruption messages on the cakesʼ
surface and in the packaging. The Club member then distributed these mooncakes to the elderly andresidents in the neighbourhood as a means to promote integrity.
E. Multimedia Publicity
Anti-corruption education will not be effective unless it is appealing both in content and presentation. The
ICAC pays attention to not only to whom the anti-corruption messages are disseminated, but also throughwhat channels these messages are disseminated. Multimedia publicity, which conveys the messages by text,
speech, images, animations, video or other interactive means, has become increasingly important in every
aspect of the ICACʼs anti-corruption education. In order to be better equipped in this area, the CRD houses asmall team of graphic designers, video producers and new media marketing experts specialising in
multimedia publicity.
The ICAC has a long history of using multimedia publicity. During its early years, the ICAC conductedmost of such publicity through television, a mass media which became increasingly popular among ordinary
citizens in Hong Kong from the 1970s. In fact, the ICAC was one of the first government departments in Hong
Kong producing television advertisements to disseminate educational messages. The first ICAC television
advertisement was launched in 1975 to encourage the public to report corruption. In the following years, thethemes of ICAC television advertisements have been diversified to the dire consequences of committing
bribery, the evils of corruption and the importance of integrity to society. Alongside with television, theadvertisements are also rolled out on many platforms in Hong Kong, such as television networks in therailway system and commercial buildings, public transportation poster sites, outdoor giant banners, busbodies, social media and mobile applications.
Conventional mass media has remained a powerful means for the ICAC to reach the community, but it is
not without shortcomings. Advertising campaigns are relatively costly. The advertisements have to be shortin content, and the communication is one way only. On the other hand, the new publicity channels that163

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emerged in the Internet era enjoy a number of advantages. People can receive and share information anytime
and anywhere via websites, social media and mobile apps. Multimedia publicity can be published to a larger
audience within a shorter time, with contents and formats more customised for specific targets, in particularyoungsters. The communication between the ICAC and the audiences can also be more instant andinteractive.
The ICAC has been well aware of this trend and has expanded its reach in the new media. The corporatewebsite of the ICAC has long been an easily accessible channel for the public to obtain the information andlatest news about the ICAC. Thematic websites were built to house anti-corruption resources for specialised
groups such as businessmen, teachers, scholars, youngsters and candidates in public elections. A mobile
application was promulgated to allow smartphone users to obtain the information about the ICAC moreconveniently.
Social media is another fast-growing arena of the ICACʼs multimedia publicity. A YouTube channel was
set up to show the ICACʼs audio-visual productions, such as television advertisements, training videos,animations and feature interviews with celebrities. The ICAC created its first Facebook fan page in 2011,
targeting secondary school students. Hosted by four cartoon figures, the page publishes text posts, shortvideos, animations, cartoons, e-games, often with slang and derivative works incorporated, to promote
positive values. Another fan page for the general public has also been established to promote community
engagement activities to the wider audience through Facebook. The ICACʼs newest drive of social media
publicity is on Instagram: an account has been created for “Greedy Kin”, an adorable cartoon sloth known forminor character flaws such as greediness and laziness. By following the slothʼs Instagram account andviewing its pictures and stories, people are reminded to reject these negative examples in a humorous way.
The new media may give an even greater publicity impact if it is used in conjunction with theconventional mass media and face-to-face contacts. This online-offline integrated approach has proved to be a
new direction of the ICACʼs publicity work. One of the illustrative examples is the television drama series.
Similar to the television advertisements, the television drama series has been the ICACʼs signature mass
media publicity since the 1970s. It was first broadcast in 1976, two years after the establishment of the ICAC,
and was followed by over 15 series in the past four decades. The episodes are based on real cases, depicting
the evils of corruption and the ICACʼs determination, capabilities and professionalism to fight graft. Jointly
produced with local television stations, the drama series has long been a hit television programme in HongKong.
To make it better known among the population, each of the drama series is now integrated into acomprehensive online-offline publicity campaign. People may now watch the episodes not only via television
channels, but also through the websites of the ICAC and the broadcasters. A making-of programme isbroadcast on television to let the audience better understand why and how the drama series is produced. The
production crew and the artists appear in press interviews, television entertainment shows, social media
platforms and neighbourhood events of the ICAC to increase exposure of the drama series. In order toengage the community in the campaign, a large-scale premiere is organised for community leaders, work
partners and volunteers of the ICAC Club. The episodes are shown in publicity events organised by the
ICAC and local organisations in the neighbourhood. Quizzes, games, cartoons, short stories and teachingmaterials are also produced with reference to the drama series. They are uploaded to the ICACʼs website asuseful anti-corruption education resources for teachers, parents and youngsters.
In the future, the ICAC will keep exploring new innovative technologies which can convey anticorruption messages more effectively and efficiently. A recent initiative is interactive games with virtual
reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies. Citizens may play the games, which are adapted fromlandmark corruption cases, to experience the evils of corruption in a three-dimensional (3D) interactive
environment.

IV. CONCLUDING REMARKS
The above account shows that although the ICAC has the same mission over the years to conduct anticorruption education to every citizen, it has to keep adapting itself to the ever-changing social environment
and adjusting the format and mode of its work. Keeping up with the times remains the key to the effective
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practices of anti-corruption education.
Anti-corruption education may be culture-specific in content and format. Hong Kongʼs experience may not
be invariably applied to other jurisdictions. However, no matter in what form anti-corruption education iscarried out in other parts of the world, it is crucial for anti-corruption agencies to make the public realise theevils of corruption and enlist their support for the anti-corruption work, so that an ethical culture can takeroot in the community. After all, fighting corruption, building a fair society and achieving a world of probity
require every personʼs participation.

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