HONG KONG, Dec. 29 -- Hong Kongers appeared to be more concerned about their well-being regarding the safety from threats this year than last year, according to a survey released recently by global payments and technology firm MasterCard.

The results came from an index titled "Developed City in Asia Pacific for Well-Being" conducted by MasterCard, and the index measures overall levels of well-being by examining people's attitudes towards four components: Work and Finances, Safety from Threats, Satisfaction and Personal Well-Being.

On the Safety from Threats aspect, the local respondents recorded a score of 59.7 this year, compared to the 65.4 in 2014, with lower levels of optimism across violent, financial and cyber crimes, disease outbreak and natural disaster or pollution.

In contrast, Singaporeans demonstrated a more positive outlook across all of the above categories with a score of 67.1.

On the other hand, Hong Kong ranked second among developed cities in Asia Pacific when it comes to the overall Well-Being Index, with a score of 61.8, after Singapore's 63.2, and followed by Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne and Taipei.

In terms of Work and Finances, Hong Kong was one of the most optimistic developed cities in the region, keeping up with the bills, and saving up for big purchases. But when it comes to the jobs, Hongkongers are not as positive as those from Tokyo and Singapore.

Personal Well-Being is the category that locals are less optimistic about, but they believe they have received the least pressure from family, work and finance compared with their counterparts in the region.

About 16,800 people across 33 cities in 17 countries in Asia Pacific were surveyed between May 2014 and June 2015 for the index. The index is calculated with zero as the most negative, 100 as most positive and 50 as neutral.