Lost&found
With all due respect, I think you missed the point of my post.
I'm not desperate to find anything. I've been here a while. I'm on old terms. Supply & demand dictated them. I'm intimately familiar with the heavy financial burden of living in HK. I'd be happy to share my experiences here, some wonderful, some less so.
I thought I was reasonably explicit that the lifestyle change on a given salary would be huge. I went on to explain that the SO path (cadet or otherwise) is a great opportunity for the low experienced, with a good solid career prospect ahead (at least compared to elsewhere), despite the naysayers who are a cockpit minority. I also, fairly clearly, said that our friend here (coffee mug) was not in the general experience demographic; rather better suited to the now absent DEFO programme.
What I was asking of Tyson 744, was to prove me wrong with regard to SO pay. With the new deal, SO pay is akin to a US regional captain at an average carrier. Does it buy you the same lifestyle? No, not even close. That wasn't the point I was trying to make. I was just nullifying the notion of coffee mug taking a 50% pay cut. He wouldn't. His net income would be higher. It would also have a higher ceiling.
I'm not trying to be argumentative. I'm just being objective. HK is expensive, we have established that. I can give coffee mug my cost breakdown, too, if he likes (I have no kids, so it won't be too valid).
In short, coffee mug; similar pay, much higher cost of living. US$1000 won't get you more than 550sqft 45 minutes out.
Like I said, hold out for DEFO. SO is a great opportunity for some, but you'd be selling yourself short. If DEFO doesn't happen for a while, FedEx, UPS, etc will. SWA have already opened up the floodgates, too.
I wish you the best. Feel free to PM me for any more info.