Midgetboy,
a small flat in Tung Chung will be upwards of 3M HK right now. Tung Chung is one of the cheaper areas to live right now. As far as rent is concerned, I would plan on a minimum of 8k for a 2bd in Tung Chung or 12k for a 3bd. I don't live in Tung Chung. Most CX pilots do not live in Tung Chung. Anywhere else will be substantually more expensive than this. That is a substantial part of your 35k/month salary.
Everyone else- Let me break down your 1st year SO salary for you. I will assume you are married with children because that seems to be the destination for most of us
12k-rent(this is a bare minimum 18k would be more realistic)
4k- helper(there are no teenage girls in HKG so if you ever want any grown-up time this is a requirement not an option)
2k-transportation for 2(this is taking busses everywhere, no cabs)
2k-utilities and phones(maybe a bit of an overestimation)
4k- school for 2 kids (Yes CX does pay an education allowance for local FO's but it will take you5 years or so to get to FO1; JFO's get zero. This will end up being your share as well as the CX allowance is only a subsidy)
3k- groceries
4k- dining out(most people in HK eat out a lot, it is also one of the nicer things about living here)
3k- tax
total: 34k
We have not talked about clothes, your rightchoice insurance contributions, retirement savings, entertainment or any fun things to do with the kids. This looks like a pretty rough first year. How does the rest of the career look?
As an SO you will get an additional 4k/month after each anniversary until 4 years with the company. Your JFO raise will be another 4k. Your next big raise won't come until you are QL'd and become an FO. That will be at least 5 years down the track. So even if you are childless now there is a good chance that you will have a school bill before you hit FO 1 and become eligible for the schooling assistance.
If you have any flying experience you can do much better elsewhere. For those that have none this may still be viable but there are other cadetships out there.
As for those of you who were offerred DESO slots and then held for 2 years and now have been offerred cadet slots; please do not let anybody insult you like that. Go somewhere else if for no other reason than you will be hated here for accepting such an attrocious offer to a qualified expat pilot.
CX has been a good fit for me despite all of the wrenches they have thrown at me, but I would not be here for the current offer. If need be I would still be a CRJ captain back in the states.
Being an expat in Hong Kong on an expat package is great. You get a very good chance to get ahead financially and enjoy this vibrant city. If you come as a local with no ties here on 35k/month, you will be very lonely and bored here because you will not be able to pay to play here. For that matter you will be hard pressed to escape HKG at all to travel as well.
Hopefully, most of you will value yourselves higher and look elsewhere and these clowns will pull their heads out of their rectums but unfortunately I doubt they will.