Follow up for new joiners
I guess the point to remember is that conditions and pay are not what they used to be, and if you project into the future - well, it's not a particularly rosy picture, as conditions are slowly whittled away, and pay is slowly overtaken by inflation. B scale pay was a large cut from A scale, and there have no B scale pay rises for at least 6 years.
As an employee, it is simply another company - the glory days are long gone - and many pilots now treat CX as a stepping stone. In this regard it can be a good step. They will give you a 747-400 rating and a North American base, and after 2-3 years you will have 1000+ of heavy jet time. You will work hard, and spend long trips away from home with many last minute roster changes. Go into it with your eyes open, and enjoy it for what it is.
If you are contemplating joining as a second officer, again, keep you eyes open. You'll be given a type rating, and alot of travel. The Hong Kong experience is what you want to make of it, and can be alot of fun. You will start on enough pay to support a single person in a small apartment, and it will afford you enough for standby travel on your days off. If you want to bring a family with you, then you will need some savings to get through the first few years, particularly with children. The starting housing allowance will pay for a small (+/- 700 sq/ft) apartment.
But Hong Kong will not make you rich, certainly no more so than your own home country will. That is to say that if you were going to make millions, then you would already be doing so in your home country. It would be wearing rose coloured glasses to assume that a position in HK is the opportunity that it once was. Compared to airline pay here in the 1980's you are now paid a small fraction of the purchasing power, and you will earn every cent of it.