Ok if thats how we going to go about it here I start. First off, dont get me wrong I am not a local and neither would like to because of the petty cultute they have in HK. My family owned quite a sizeable amount of land where Im from, pine trees are abundant there so dont expect me not to know the difference in the air. Any city that is developed fully will be polluted, we chose to move here for the oppurtnuties that this city provides you not saying there werent oppurtunities back there but the pay and benefits are nothing even close.
My point is you have to sacrifice something for something else. As for Corporate greed it has always been there and will be. I used to work for a company with a similar agenda as CX, ehen though I resigned and made a sizeable group take the struggle together... At the end of the day there was a queue of people outside willing to work for way less. If as you say your country is so much better off why not take a flying post there? I have wanted to be a pilot for a long time... The oppurtinities in HK are just CX or KA. Like any other big city with the convenience of 24 hours transport, shops, hospitals etc you can obviously expect to pay more for rent etc. Why would I take the job right away? Because I am humble enough and know that if it means it puts a few more extra meals on my family's table then why not? For your info Im living with my family of 6 in a 800sqft flat the rent is 7,500 hkd per month. We used to live in a double story over 5000sqft house.
If you are willing to make sacrifices and can cut costs to save up for a year or two live through hell... You can and will make it. The down payment is 10% on property and if you cant make that with CX pay then manage your money better, learn to adapt. I get maybe half of what you are getting and already have 5% of down payment saved up from struggling through a year. In the end choose what you want to do and believe. Yes being a pilot is a professional job blah blah... So are a lot of other jobs but they are also getting pay cuts year after year. Please do quit soon so someone else can take over, what one man can make with a select few raw materials may be very different from the other man.
If you are new to HK, Im happy to give advice but if you want your "expat" lifestyle I suggest moving to Hollywood which compares nth to HK and getting a reality check. Thank you!