PUBLIC perception of officials has reached a crisis point in China, as more and more of their corrupt activities and sex scandals have come to light, says a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Corruption and dereliction of duty are the two biggest reasons for the plunging public confidence. Meanwhile, the central government has been ever more determined in investigating and punishing these guilty parties.

The “Report on Image Crisis of Officials” is based on a 2013 survey.

“An increasing number of incidents damaged officials’ image, and severity of such problems has been growing,” says Tang Jun, director of the crisis management center at Renmin University of China, also the author of the report.

The study considered five major categories that damage officials’ image — corruption; dereliction of duty; sex scandals; falsification and spreading of rumors; and violence, especially during enforcement of laws.

The results show that 30.7 percent of people selected corruption as the most repugnant problem. Another 24.8 percent said it was dereliction of duty. Falsification, sex scandals and violence received 17.4 percent, 16.6 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively.

Last week the Communist Party of China announced an investigation into former secretary of the CPC Central Political and Legislative Committee Zhou Yongkang, the highest-profile figure so far to be caught up in President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign.

Though no charges have been brought yet, massive public reaction on various social networks has rendered the verdict — corrupt and guilty.

“When government officials do something inappropriate or against the law, it easily triggers public outrage. The public keeps digging into the deep side of the incident or sometimes intentionally throws mud at the suspect,” says Tang, adding that officials lack skills in image crisis management.

He points out that authorities pay inadequate attention to repairing the damaged image of the government, creating the impression that there are more officials with similar problems.

The report focused on officials in seven jobs that relate strongly to people’s daily lives. They included chengguan or city management officers, school officials, hospital officials, village heads, police officers, leaders of state-owned enterprises, and civil affairs officers.

Chengguan and leaders of schools and hospitals are the three most-despised officials, according to the survey.

Many people feel the corruption first-hand. Among them is Samantha Wang, who has an 11-year-old son studying in a leading primary school in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area.

Her son is smart, always the top student in the class, but also somewhat ill-behaved.

“It is an open secret that if you want your child to be considered or have more opportunities to attend the contests, you have to give the teachers ‘red pockets’,” Wang tells Shanghai Daily.

Last week she went to the school after preparing two envelopes with gift cards of 3,000 yuan and 2,000 yuan for the dean of the elementary school and his son’s class teacher, respectively.

Educators are not alone in the wrong way of doing things that are supposed to be done anyway. No matter whether people are rich or poor, they usually prepare money for hospital staff and officials in order to obtain better treatment, ward and services.

“If I don’t accept the money, the patients sometimes will think I am not paying attention to them. They will panic. Taking the money somewhat means that I am going to give you the best treatment,” says William Li, deputy director of cardiology in a major hospital in Shanghai.

The public is very quick to loathe law enforcement officers, according to the report. Cases of city management officers abusing their power and using violence to deal with street vendors are not rare.

The Internet has become an important channel for exposing violent incidents involving officials.

Another problem is that families of officials sometimes like to flaunt their lavish lifestyle online and often commit offenses themselves.

Leah Ye, daughter of a high-ranking official in a state-owned company, is a typical example. Recently her father obtained an internship job for her.

The first day at work, Ye wore a 400,000-yuan diamond watch and carried a Chanel bag to the office. Six of her 10 fingers were bedecked with rings, including those with diamonds and other jewelry.

The 20-year-old went to her mentor directly and asked for a well-written evaluation without doing anything.

She watched Korean television shows during office hours, complaining about the “stupid work” all the time. Her colleagues disliked her and talked behind her back constantly.

“How could a leader of a state-owned enterprise earn that much money? And if we take a video and put it online, soon she will lose everything she has,” says Grace Zhao, Ye’s mentor.

“Bribery and corruption are the most common case for grassroots officials and should be taken seriously and prevented,” Tang says.

However, he also notes that officials who violate laws and regulations are in the minority.

Emy Yang, 28, reporter

“I never think that chengguan are hateful. The main problem is that the society lacks supervision, law and regulation to protect us. If we have punitive fines that regulate the street vendors, there won’t be so many problems. It is meaningless to talk about officials without addressing the issue of our social system.”

Jennifer Shao, 40, department chief of a state-owned enterprise

“Sometimes I find it a little pitiful when the public condemns the officials once news comes out to say someone is under investigation. Yesterday the official might be a hero but all of a sudden he is demon. I despise corrupted officials as well, but it doesn’t mean you have to deny all his achievements.”

Jack Lam, 33, a manager at a PR company

“I have no faith in Chinese officials. No joking. Everybody is planning a second passport now. But I don’t blame them. Life is not simple, and they have a hard life, too.”

Henry Li, 21, a college student at Johns Hopkins University

“You can’t be a decent person in an environment like this. All I care is that they take the money and do some real work while some just do big talk.”

John Wang, 30, an aircraft engine engineer

“The news we saw in the media is an extreme case. Overall, I think Chinese officials are okay. The problem is that there are too many levels between the top and the grassroots that cause high management cost. But I think this situation is getting better and soon we will be as effective as that in Western countries.”