Slightly overdramatic Titan but throughout my 3 interviews, you were asked about the fact that you had no housing allowance.
The ones that got through to CP were those that were realistic about Hong Kong, who were aware of average rent prices and also the areas where one may live. Being realistic about Hong Kong was a consistant subject in all 3 interviews so don't answer with some "I get to fly a 747 for free so I don't care" reply.
Titan, I saw the pay scales and I thought they were pretty darn good. 5th Year salary (assume you completed 4 years at SO) then got promoted is just over 55 thousand. If you are used to paying 50% of your salary per month, are you really saying there is no 3/4 bedroom place for HKG25'000? Because according to my reseach, a 5th year salary is more than enough to go around.