housing
there are 3 options for housing: 1. 14,000 cash which you can use at your discretion (but you will pay a 15% HK tax on at the end of the year) 2. 19,000 lease option which you can get if Cathay pays your lease directly to your landlord or 3. approx 24,000-26,000 toward your mortgage payment if you purchase a flat. These are all in HOng KOng dollars which is approx 7.8 per US dollar and less to the euro. Housing is affordable in some places and extremely expensive in others, just as any other major city. Oh, by the way after your second year as a SO, the housing allowance nearly doubles, making it muuuuuuuuuuch easier to get by comfortably. Good luck