I've just joined CX as an SO myself, I signed a six year contract to 'pay back' the HK$1,100,000, the starting salary is HK$36,200, + pilot allowance HK$10,000, + hourly duty pay (assuming 84 hours) HK$3,500. Total HK$49,700.
I thought I'd research the cost of living in HK sufficiently to know what I was getting into before I even went to my first interview roughly two years ago. Things have changed since then, in particular the cost of renting a place of a similar size to Oz is unaffordable these days on the starting salary. Also for anyone who'd had savings and was planning to buy now cannot as you need 15% stamp duty on top of a minimum 10% deposit. I'm hoping over time the pilot allowance will be increased but in reality I suspect that the housing allowance of the senior pilots will be reduced over time in line with the HK pilot allowance.
I've come to the conclusion that this is a good way to get into aviation, but Cathay is likely just a 6 year stepping stone for many. The Swire guys will have done the maths and figured out that after two years of a cadet replacing an FO, we will have become cheap labor. If we leave after two years but before six, it's an additional bonus as they're lawyers will come calling for the training costs.
So far the job is good, the guys you fly with are good, after a short time though HK looses its charm.