Spot On!
Here is a little something I wrote earlier on another thread. I've copied it for simplicity's sake.
To put it into perspective; a few years ago I applied for a captain position with a low cost Hong Kong carrier to fly the A320. Being licensed in Hong Kong, having plenty of Hong Kong/China experience and having a permanent HK ID I was quickly offered a position with the start-up. It was pretty exciting for us, thinking about all the things we loved about Hong Kong. It was time to do the math before I officially accepted the position. We started with housing. By browsing real estate websites, and knowing where we wanted to live, we started jotting down rent. From there is was schooling: debentures fees were through the roof and there was a high probability that we weren't going to get our kids a placement in school without having to fork out at least $C 70,0000 (non-refundable, and no guarantee of a placement in the school). School fees were not cheap, nor was the cost of living (which was considerably higher since we had left). Add transportation, utilities etc. when we added up all the potential expenses, the salary (which was certainly not minimum wage) would not cover them. We then had to change where we were to live in order to make our numbers work. Tung Chung was pretty much the only place we could live where the rents were a bit lower and we could avoid transportation. Bottom line: a move to Hong Kong would mean that we could put $1000 per month into our pockets as disposable income. Staying in Canada, selling our principle residence, downsizing and reinvesting the equity, sending our kids to public school, we could live on a minimum wage salary in Canada - albeit not in the lifestyle we are accustomed to. Doing the same, moving to Hong Kong and working for a low-cost carrier, we would be treading water at best with no guarantee of educating our children. It didn't make economic sense three years ago and it hasn't changed. To top it off, why would I want to work in a toxic environment where very few pilots respect their company and management simply has no respect for their staff? Hong Kong used to be the be-all, end-all for many aspiring and experienced pilots, now unless you are already established, it is nothing more than a temporary stop. Minimum wage is relative: to many Canadians they get by - just. Minimum wage in Hong Kong is a fast track to poverty.