Silberfuchs
You and I I'm pretty sure are roughly of the same vintage at CX but if memory serves me correctly, for our first two years in Hong Kong we received 50% of the zonal housing allowance then 100% after that irrespective of our rank. At the time I joined that equated to HK$18000 per month for the first two years. The housing allowance also wasn't based on official HK government housing figures but on average housing allowances paid out by CX to expat employees. I think it was reviewed every six months rather than monthly as it is done now also.