Feature: "I'd like my coffee clean:" Hong Kong's anti-graft body runs coffee shop, RPGs to promote integrity

HONG KONG, May 19 (Xinhua) -- To be "offered a cup of coffee" by Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) used to be code for "busted." Now the anti-graft body serves actual lattes and runs crime-solving role-playing games (RPGs) to promote workplace integrity.

"One thing you couldn't do as an ICAC officer was to joke about having friends over for coffee. It's blood-curdling!" said Mak Wai Keung, director of community relations at the ICAC.

Over 50 years into ICAC history, however, the joke stuck around, in a good way. As the ICAC opens itself to the public to enhance awareness about fighting corruption, coffee appears to be a handy envoy.

At "1974," the coffee shop named after the year ICAC was founded, many visitors wanted their coffee "clean" -- one of the three flavors available alongside "honest" and "confidential."

"When visitors take a sip, we hope that they'll take in half a century of unrelenting crackdown on corruption," said Mak.

On top of coffee and mugs bearing the ICAC logo, the commission's latest creation is a game where a group of players assumes the role of ICAC officers in action.

The game titled "Operation 303" dares players to uncover corruption behind a food security case within three hours. The investigation starts the minute players arrive at the ICAC building -- establish the suspects, search their residences, and summon them for questioning.

"The players will learn to crack the suspects in questioning using the evidence they gleaned," said Li Po Yi, chief community relations officer at the ICAC, adding that the suspects are programed to say everything to get themselves out of trouble, as is the case in real life.

The game also delves into due process. Players will know that they can't search a residence without the suspect present, and that suspects need to be informed of their legal rights at the time of arrest.

"Operation 303" has seen over 1,000 participants since its launch last October, and has helped middle school students develop an interest in anti-graft careers, according to the ICAC.

"Combating corruption is much more than a slogan -- it is officers walking the talk with their expertise and resolve," said a player. Enditem