When a second year FO at a US major is earning the same as a CX Captain, you know CX has reached its nadir as a "career". Subtract from this bottom scraping level of remuneration the cost of living in HK, the necessity of planning for a retirement outside of HK, school fees, staff travel fees back to your home country, mediocre medical benefits, etc etc and you have a joke of a proposition that CX is a worthwhile career.