hker
I think you should look back at my posts. I highlighted all the main costs of HK including tax. Tax is certainly one of the pro’s for coming here even if you are a US citizen with their world wide tax. Mind you they pay no US tax if they earn less than about US$80,000.00.
My budget for rent was based on the New Territories not HK Island which is easily double what I quoted. While you may pay similar rents in London, what you get per ft² is about half what you would get in London. So per ft² HK is close to double.
Alcohol is actually cheap if you buy it at the supermarket and drink it at home. If you are like me whole is only a social drinker it hardly figures into a monthly budget.
No one has said local HK food is disgusting. Most of us love it. The point is over a long period of time here I have never seen an expat that eats local food on a regular basis. If you have grown up in the West you will, I can guarantee you be drawn back to a Western diet no matter how hard you try just as Chinese in London or Sydney are drawn to a Chinese diet.
Of course BA or VA aren’t going to pay your rent or mortgage. You’re from the UK. It’s the same as me not expecting QF to pay my rent or mortgage in Australia. Again the point is that most expats move overseas to get ahead of where they would be if they had stayed home. You take that incentive away and most will leave. In other words you lumber on them easily the largest financial burden of living here, the financial incentive of uprooting your family and coming here evaporates.
I find it interesting you bring up bankers and housing. For the record most bankers in HK even now with the slump in the world economy would have a housing allowance twice that of the average CX pilot. Most expats will be drawn to live in areas that other expats live. They include HK Island, Discovery Bay, Tung Chung, South Lantau etc. It is no different to the Chinese who live in London or Sydney. There tends to be a large concentration of them in certain areas. The longer you live here the more likely you will eventually live in one of the expat enclaves.
FL999
I realise not everyone would be in the same position I was in. My reply was really directed at “itsroxc” who lives in Sydney but can be just as applicable to someone that lives in N America, UK or Europe. I lived in Sydney too when I was in his position.
Before someone says that the UK and Europe are prohibitively expensive to learn to fly, who says you have to learn there. The US$ is in the toilet at the moment, particularly against the Euro and Florida is only a 9-12 hour flight away. Save up and do your licence all at once there. Again one needs to think outside the box.