KPHL
your disposable income living in Hong Kong under CX's new COS for ICadets will be less than working for a US regional, even considering a lower standard of living in HKG. In my opinion taking the ICadet job with CX will only work out financially if you get a base as soon as possible, which is very unlikely at the moment.
Also, reading some of the posts here referring to the program as a "stepping stone" or "getting a foot in the door" this is as good as it gets for you at CX. Improvements to your COS at CX will be highly unlikely. At the moment you just look at the positives, eg free flight training and the opportunity to sit in the right seat of a wide-body jet in a relatively short time period. However that will wear off soon, when you constantly get reminded that most of the guys you will fly with make twice as much money as you do, having the same rank, doing the same job. You might get even more unhappy when you see what kind of live-style they are able to live in DB, Central, Sai Kung etc and you have to live in a shoebox in Tung Chung, Mong Kog or Tsing Yi.
You might even have Children one day and want to send them to a boarding school to your home country like your colleagues do, however you find out that your education allowance only cover Hong Kong schools and not international schools.
You don't have enough disposable income to save for retirement, nor to buy real estate which would support a family comfortably.
Why do you think so many Hong Kong locals move away to countries like Canada and the US? Because they can live at a higher standard in those countries.
Just some food for thought.