There is nothing wrong with an airline having a Cadet program. Lufthansa is an airline which has had a cadet program for decades, where the cadets go directly RHS on an airliner. Difference is the quality of training and training equipment. For example, using turbo-prop aircraft for the multi-engine ratings and extensive use of full motion transport category sims. I am sure their safety record is on a very high level.
The military also trains 0 hour pilots to fly a fast jet or transport airplane with less than 250 hours of training.
It all depends on the quality and tools of the training program. One could argue that the CX cadet program might have a different philosophy than other airlines who put their cadets in the RHS, using a contracted GA flight school, with the initial training being more GA oriented and the airline specific training being done in SO training and on the line as SO, instead of having their own Cadet Flight Training Unit with an airline specific course. One could also argue that promoting cadets directly in the RHS of the A330, with a modified cadet program, gaining experience flying the line at CX would be a better approach than hiring DEFO train them and then had to let some go as they were CX substandard (seems to happened to an unusual high number of 2008 hire DEFOs). There is pro and con's for both programs. In my opinion hiring DEFO in times when the airline industry is stagnating or contracting opens a pool of qualified applicants, while having a cadet program guarantees a constant quality level of new CX pilots when the airline industry is expanding fast.