SIA locals only?
SIA has been taking Malaysians and Indians in their Cadet programme for a long time now. You know why? Because they sometimes find it hard to source enough locally suitable applicants.
Why would Cathay take a Westerner over a local if they had enough locals getting through all the testing?
An Airline down the road from EK took some Westerners on as Ab initio cadets not long ago because they too could not get enough locals through.