As for other living costs I found HK cheaper than London on my last visit, but as a mere tourist I could be missing something there.
while expensive, the cost of living in HKG doesn't really compare with Europe. just be wary though, it is constantly on the rise as we speak. in a previous post i mentioned that it
is possible to live in HKG on a CEP basic salary. that is given you are willing to/know how to assimilate in with the HKG local way of life, which is significantly cheaper than if you go to LKF and wanchai for your dinner and nightlife.
Furthermore you can leave CX after 6 years with a 777/747/A330/A340 TR with an ICAO ATPL (please correct me if that is wrong) and move onto more lucrative work.
i have heard of ex-cadets leaving CX after less than 6 years, my understanding is there is no bond in the CX cadet contract due to its illegality in HKG. not sure about getting a full ATPL though, given you start off with 0 hours in Adelaide and then you do ~4 years of S/O (P2X) time which does not count for much, so you might not get 1500 hours to unfreeze your ATPL within 6 years. i stand to be corrected though.
so the question really is how CX will entice these international cadets to stay with the company on the long-term... as for wannabes, caveat emptor! do your research, and if you know what to expect and are prepared to make sacrifices, then why not give it a go?
What scheme in the world, what job in the world, and where in the world would you ever be able to provide for the above personal situation on Day 1 of a totally new job? Especially after the company paid for your training, food, and accomodation for over a year?
this is a tough situation in most circumstances, but encountering this in
a foreign land would only exacerbate the problem.