Readers of Lianhe Zaobao picked "gang", an abbreviation of Hong Kong in Chinese, as the word of the year in an annual poll.

The poll, which is in its ninth year, allowed readers of Singapore Press Holdings' flagship Chinese newspaper to pick a Chinese character that best represented local and international news this year.

Other front runners included "luan" (disorder), "ji" (extreme) and "qing" (youth).

"Gang" emerged as the winner after nearly 14,000 votes were cast between Nov 24 and Dec 9. It was chosen by about a fifth of the voters.

Lianhe Zaobao said "luan" was leading the polls until it was pipped by "gang" for top spot on the penultimate day, while "mao" (trade) came in third with 995 votes.

The readers' choice came as no surprise to Mr Goh Sin Teck, editor of Lianhe Zaobao and Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao. He said Singaporeans were closely following the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

The protests, which began as early as March, morphed into a large-scale youth-led movement seeking more democracy for Hong Kong and an independent probe into police brutality.

Mr Goh said: "Stories related to the Hong Kong protests trended on zaobao.sg... I'm certain that the stories and analyses on Hong Kong also sparked reflection among our readers to cherish what we have in Singapore."

The poll results were announced during a live-streamed programme yesterday at The Rock School climbing gym at Our Tampines Hub.