Wu Xindi, editor-in-chief of Singapore Lianhe Zaobao, the Chinese-language newspaper that organized the poll, said any fluctuation on the international stage could affect a small country like Singapore, directly or indirectly.

In China, the word "law" has garnered the most votes this year, reflecting the powerful impact of the central leadership's anti-corruption drive and the promotion of the rule of law. For the national leadership, the top priority is to "cage the tigers and swat the flies" - metaphors used by President Xi Jinping to describe high-ranking and lower-level corrupt officials.

The fact that people have chosen "fa" (or law) as the representative word for 2014 shows how much they appreciate the anti-corruption campaign. The huge number of applicants to take the civil service exam shows how sought-after and thus lucrative a government post is. For some posts, which many believe offer "good chance" to gain decisive power, the ratio of candidates to vacancy is more than 1,000:1. The popular view seems to be that government posts mean light work and lots of money.

That's why the anti-corruption drive has come as a big relief to them. Throughout 2014, news about officials put under investigation or arrested for corruption kept hitting the headlines. More than 30 central government officials have either been put under investigation or arrested on corruption-related charges, and many mid- and low-ranking officials have been jailed.

Some people have termed the anti-corruption drive as a means adopted by the leadership to establish its authority. But the truth is far from it, because the trapping of another "tiger", Ling Jihua, former head of the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and of its United Front Work Department, shows how determined the leadership is to root out corruption.

The author is a journalist with China Daily. yangziman@chinadaily.com.cn