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KA FO Position - Schooling Fees and Rent in HK

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KA FO Position - Schooling Fees and Rent in HK

Old 6th Jul 2014, 12:39
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KA FO Position - Schooling Fees and Rent in HK

Dear KA Drivers

Could somebody please give me a rough idea of school fees in HK (Lantau) and rents in Disco Bay or Tung Chung. I see Dragonair offer 20k per month housing. I do understand that this won't get you a postage stamp in Mid-Levels but from looking online you could get a three bedroom apartment in the above mentioned areas.

The offer from KA says "assistance with school fees". What is the monetary value of this "assistance" and how far does it go to covering the total amount?

Considering applying for A330 position.

Cheers
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Old 6th Jul 2014, 12:44
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It's been said in here many times before that it's becoming very difficult to get you children into schools in HK. Those that can get in have to pay a very big debenture which I'm told may not be refundable in the future anymore?

I'd suggest doing a lot of research before uprooting your family.
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Old 6th Jul 2014, 13:03
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I'd suggest doing a lot of research before uprooting your family.
Isn't it what he's doing?

With CX, you'd get 75% of international school fees, or 90% of ESF fees.
No idea about KA...
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Old 6th Jul 2014, 13:04
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I paid a 420,000 HKD schooling debenture. Expat schooling is just another business in Hong Kong. Yes, and as nitpicker says, the waiting list is huge and debentures rising accordingly.

You could send your kids to school in Cambodia? Or some guys are commuting back to Europe and Australia.



International School of Siem Reap - International School of Siem Reap
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Old 6th Jul 2014, 13:27
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Thanks guys for the responses so far. Without risking thread creep (i.e. it becoming a bee hatching thread), is commuting possible on KA 330 rosters?

I'm ME based and commuting is very difficult indeed. We don't do it but some guys do - how they manage it I have no idea.
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Old 6th Jul 2014, 13:56
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Commuting back to the UK? Dont do it... PS you dont get to choose between 320 and 330. We have had type rated guys turn up with oodles of 320 time and put on the 330. Depends what the company needs to fill. Same pay though, and similar rosters. Neither of the rosters are commutable, although a few try. They usually end up angry, and try and buck the system. Would be much easier to commute from the desert than from here.

20k wont get you a livable 3 bedroom pad anywhere in HK.

Contact the schools for debentures and more importantly place availability. You wont be spoilt for choice I am afraid.
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Old 6th Jul 2014, 14:32
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Sadly, having re-checked the rents, I think you might be right Lowkoon. Possibly makes the education question rather academic (no pun intended).

Thanks all for the replies.
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Old 6th Jul 2014, 15:21
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B727,

Thanks for doing a bit of research...

With CX, you'd get 75% of international school fees, or 90% of ESF fees.
No idea about KA...
...and you gotta pay tax on that too..although it sounds great you will be short by 15%...

To all the others: fact is - no matter how many times you crunch the numbers - the "new" package on offer is simply not enough for a normal lifestyle with a family. It is maybe barely sufficient for a single guy but that's it.

If you guys hang in there the package will most likely improve. The Swire group wants expats for local money; it is up to you if you want to sell yourself short.

Last edited by AQIS Boigu; 6th Jul 2014 at 21:33.
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Old 7th Jul 2014, 00:16
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fly123456------ooooooh smart ass, I was referring to him contacting schools in HK to get the info straight from them.
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Old 7th Jul 2014, 01:39
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Don't dismiss Cambodia as a commuting option! Or you could share with 3 other guys in Tung Chung and keep the family in Thailand? HKT has an international school.
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Old 7th Jul 2014, 03:08
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With CX, you'd get 75% of international school fees, or 90% of ESF fees.
No idea about KA... ...and you gotta pay tax on that too..although it sounds great you will be short by 15%...
It costs me approximately HK$480 000 pa to send my two kids to a good school in HKG. The "assistance" with school fees is based on school tuition fees alone, which are only a portion of that total cost. So my reimubursement of 75% of international school fees only covers approximately 50% of the actual cost.

The real problem is not really the cost but actually getting your kids into a good school in the first place.

A key reason for becoming an expat is to improve your lifestyle, and getting your children a good education is a key part of that.

Ensuring this is now very difficult for new comers to HKG. Unless they are billionaires from over the border.
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Old 7th Jul 2014, 08:12
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The only schools that you can afford without dipping too heavily into your salary is ESF schools. From 2015 they will be putting on rather hefty non refundable "Debentures" (read bribes) to get your kid on the list. Expect to fork out at least $5000 USD per kid to get them on the list. This is the cheapest option in HK, so new hires, budget for this little addition upon your arrival. Check out the facts on the ESF website, you can google it as easily as I can, unless you are in China.

There are very few school slots available each year as teachers kids, past alumni, and kids with siblings already at the school get priority over your kids. There is hot competition for the remaining few slots. The other option is home schooling maybe, or the local system. Local is great if your kids are already fluent in Canto, completely useless to you if they aren't...

Did we also mention when you go to rent a place, the commission to the agent on signing is 1 months rent? Plus your bond of at least a months rent, plus a months rent in advance, so your 20k luxury pad just cost you at least 60K to sign. (About 10,000 USD you have to fork out, oh and utility bonds, and a few other little "gotchas"...)

If you take the job with CX or KA, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that it will cost you about $20,000.00 USD for a wife and two very small kids.

"But mine are in KINDY!" you breathe a sigh of relief... Child education at KA doesnt cover kindy. A gentleman at work showed me the fees at a Lantau English Kindy, they were more than the fees at UCLA for a degree. Do your homework, Kindies know they have you over a barrel, and most of them are tied up with a school, so typically you have to go to a certain very expensive kindy to get a chance at the very rare school slots. Sound a little corruption to you too? Here in HK they call it 'business'.

Not trying to stir the pot here, all of these facts are checkable, just trying to assist your research.
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Old 7th Jul 2014, 12:52
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Lowkoon

You certainly aren't "stirring the pot". Far from it. As an expat myself I know first hand that we are ripe for the picking (or should I say plucking).

I too, would not have believed the costs of certain things where I am now (accommodation being one of them) if I wasn't on the ground to see it first hand.

I would rather save myself (and family) the upheaval of moving somewhere that wasn't financially viable in the long run. Like others have said, many jobs look great on paper for a young twenty / thirty something but they just don't cut it if you have to factor in supporting a family.

I appreciate your comments, as do I most people's on here. Thankfully it hasn't turned into a slanging match (I must be used to the ME forums too much )

I'm still intrigued by the Siam Reap commuting option, or was that just someone pulling my leg?

Cheers

Last edited by B727-200; 7th Jul 2014 at 13:19. Reason: Typo
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Old 7th Jul 2014, 13:04
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Quite possibly a pulling of your leg, the loads are too good to commute on anyway! Although military dictatorships do have a certain appeal, it really isn't a place to dump your family by choice, unless of course they never get sick, and are completely immune to every water and air borne disease known to man, then it may just be the utopia you seek!
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Old 7th Jul 2014, 13:20
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Yup - I thought so
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Old 7th Jul 2014, 14:06
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C'mon Lowkoon jump seats and crew seats? And REP isn't ever full when I do it.

I'm trying to make this package work. And lets be frank, the only help being offered is from guys on B scale because the incumbent C scale guys know full well, that if people continue to sign up in droves they will never, ever see any improvement!

What are the chances of being run down by a tank in HKG or REP by a dictatorial military? About the same in both I reckon!
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Old 7th Jul 2014, 14:08
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I almost forgot, you have choice in REP-

International School of Siem Reap - International School of Siem Reap

HOPE International School - Siem Reap
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Old 8th Jul 2014, 00:05
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Dear KA Drivers

Could somebody please give me a rough idea of school fees in HK (Lantau) and rents in Disco Bay or Tung Chung. I see Dragonair offer 20k per month housing.
Rents in TC are better value than other areas in Hong Kong. I was paying just under $19,000pm for a small 3 bedroom flat in Caribbean coast. I've since left for greener pastures.

TC is great for convenience and cost, you can have a dog if you are in Caribbean coast but not in the other buildings. It is however very dull, and full of the kind of people who will look you in the eye as they press the close door button as you walk towards the elevator.

There is nowhere to go for entertainment in the area except a good curry joint in a nearby village. (Handi Indian and Sugar and Spice Thai).

There is no international school there, just a kindy.

When we moved in, there was one suicide every month for 5 months straight! 4 jumpers and 1 by cop, after that things quietend down.

La Rossa and Coastal Skyline seem to be a bit more civilised and quieter than Caribbean coast.

You have multiple supermarkets to choose from in the area, but like anywhere in Hong Kong, you will have to visit 5 shops to make one meal unless it is a Chinese one.

Getting to work is about $60 in a taxi if you can get one or about $30 on the bus and 35 mins.

The views in summer are pretty nice because you can see more than 2000m but in the afternoons it's still smoggy enough you can look directly at the sun without hurting your eyes (from the sun, not the air). In winter if you can see the ground from the 50th floor it's an ok day in the smog, on good days you can see some of the airport (3000m vis without a cloud in the sky); this is mostly because of the pearl river effect (terrain trapping the smog).

We moved to the south side of Lantau and the air quality is a bit better.

On the special allowance, it is just that, an allowance that they can change or leave at will according to market forces, it is not indexed to anything and it is fully taxable. It hasn't changed since it was implemented over two years ago but rents have risen by 25% for a lot of guys I know in TC. I would expect asking prices to be around 22k pm now.

TSIO.
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Old 8th Jul 2014, 03:37
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Thanks for some real info TSIO, describing them as 3 bedroom apartments is a bit rich though. Be fair, which of the bedrooms could hold a queen size bed a chest of draws? The sort of furniture these families will be bringing from the UK? Honestly there are walk in closets bigger than these "bedrooms" in the sand pit, and the rest of the world. By your estimation, these dumps are already out of reach, these people need to see it to believe it. Good to see the suicide rates dropped off a bit before you got to move, a plus for the real estate agents not to have to dodge meat bombs as they show new joiners their new luxury digs...

Gnadenberg, glad the despotic military dictatorship hits the spot! "Same dream" and all that...
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Old 8th Jul 2014, 04:13
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Cambodia is much better than Tung Chung or greater Lantau.


“I Can Afford Luxuries In Cambodia I’d Never Allow Myself At Home”


Expat Life | Move to Cambodia
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