Hi there, This is not badminton related but I am being asked to moved to HK to live and work for up to 2 years and I need some basic information a) What is the average cost of renting a one-bedroom flat? b) Average compensation for IT folks for (i) Project Manager (ii) Technical/systems analyst c) Which area would be good to live? (an area close to badminton facilities would be ideal ) I don't have much details yet but will have so within the next couple of weeks. Any help would be appreciated.
WWC! i can't help much with the info as i haven't been living in HK for a while. i am sure the regulars like Cheung and Ricky will give you much better info. be prepared though, that the living condition and salary in HK isn't comparable to Canada. but i can guarantee you that the badminton playing standard in HK is higher. and the racket prices are also lower. since badminton gyms are usually run by the City Council, they are pretty evenly planned/distributed all over the place. nice thing is that public transportion in HK is very convenient, most places are very accessible.. when are you moving there? who's going to distribute Winex stuff then?
HK WWC, the service and tourist industries in HK took the biggest hit in term of employment and salary. I don't know how IT salary shakes out lately. I'm also sure that real estate is now alot cheaper then before so leasing cost should be down too. Ricky and cheung, correct me if i'm wrong.
Kwun, cooler, Thanks. Nothing is confirmed yet hence my question on compensation as I understand that accommodation in HK can run you an average of US$2,000 a month (approx. Cdn$3,000) depending on where. Obviously, food probably has to be cheaper somewhat (at least the local stuff) although I would expect that it would be more expensive for specialized cusine like Sushi, etc. Everything is preliminary at this point so it might be a red herring after all but I thought that I should at least get some information from the horses' mouths so to speak As for the Winex stuff, my partner will have to deal with it without me being around (or at least 16 hours ahead).
WWC, yes. rent can be high in HK. and further, all you get is a dinky little flat/apartment instead of a nice big house. however, economy in HK isn't doing too great, and there are an abundance of properties for rent. likely you will find that rent isn't as high as it used to be. if you want to find something real cheap, i think my grandmother is having trouble renting out some of her properties in Mongkok. beware though, there is no elevator, so you may need to walk up many staircases to get home... let me know. tax in HK is low, so your net/gross income percentage is higher than in N. America. make sure you factor that in! good luck. let us know. i am planning to be in HK around July/August time frame (this keeps shifting back ) so if you are there already, we can arrange some badminton games with Cheung and Ricky!
Warning to WWC! Although transportation is very convenient, the cost of MTR (subway) and bus fares are very expensive. On average, one can easily spend over CAD 200 per month on public transportation. Rent can go as low as CAD 1,160 per month to well over CAD 3,000 per month. One must understand a university graduate in HK is lucky to find work, and the pay starts out at CAD 1,000 to CAD 1,500. Overtime is frequent and usually is without pay (10 hours a day are very frequent). Therefore, life here is pretty miserable for the working class. On the plus side, telephone toll is cheap compared to Telus or other Canadian telecom provider. Food is a lot cheaper than it used to, but milk and diary products are really expensive compared to Canada (about CAD 6 for 1.25 liters of milk in HK versus CAD 3 something for 4 liters). A 2 dishes lunch meal (Chinese food) would set you back CAD 4 but the quality and quantity are somewhat to be desired. Forget about sushi and other exotic cuisines. They are a luxury here (about CAD 10 for a bowl of Vietnamese beef noodle in HK versus CAD 5.50 for a much bigger portion in Vancouver). I still say Vancouver has the cheapest and best tasting sushi you can find. I still prefer Canada as the cost of living is lower than HK even after all the crazy taxes. I am not sure about IT professional's salary. You may want to check out www.scmp.com (note, you have to register and pay a yearly subscription fee). In fact, Ricky should be able to help since he works in this field. Well, good luck to you.
Additional Warning! Air quality is another problem in HK. Mongkok and Causeway Bay are really bad. You might consider the Tung Chung location as it is bland new right next to the airport, at least the air quality is above average.
moving around I think one of the mistakes of moving to a different country is to expect it to be 'just like home'. Actually, I wouldn't expect the Sushi in HK to be anywhere similar to Vancouver or the Vietnamese food to be the same. After all, the Chinese take away in UK doesn't cook food the same way as HK. Pete, have you tried the milk from Australia? I find it to be much more palatable.. What HK has to offer is totally different to Vancouver so one shouldn't expect clean air, great environment, big emphasis on outdoor pusuits. For me, I chose to focus on career, learning different working culture, money(!), learning chinese language and experiencing the vibrancy of the city. After some years on focusing on getting my career started, I branched (and still am branching) into other areas. Badminton is so much better than before in UK and there are many tournaments and clubs to play in. I also travel a lot more (like to the Japan Open!!!). It wasn't so good in the beginning Home sickness did affect me. But one should also learn from negative experiences and take the motto "You never know till you try" and try one's best! As for the cost of living here, just take it into context against your wage. Big apartments didn't mean too much for me in the beginning - it just means more housework! WWC, 1) do you have any idea of which location you would have to work in? 2) do you prefer to live close to work? 3) do you prefer a more countryside location, yet willing to accept increased travelling time? 4) how much badminton do you want to play? There's badminton facilities almost everywhere! I'm gonna move to a complex with 3 badminton courts in the the clubhouse (but I can only use one court at a time)
Australian Milk Thanks for encouragement Cheung. I tried Australian milk here. They are ok. The milk from the local diary farms are not too tasty: i think they mix milk powder with fresh milk or something. Nestle tastes really bad .
Re: moving around Thanks Cheung, I would expect a drastic change in lifestyle as most likely I will be the only one there. Family will be staying in Vancouver and maybe they will come over during the summer. As for your questions, 1) Don't know yet. I was told that the client was a big company with four distinct retail businesses 2) Yes, this is preferably as a good majority of time would be spent at the office 3) I'm okay with this 4) Since I will probably be on my own which means that I got more time for badminton so will probably play as much as I can (not everyday but most likely 3 or 4 times a week). Again, thanks to all for their responses. Everything is still preliminary and the client might decide not to have me on board.
Re: Australian Milk I wonder if it is the breed of cow they use. Otherwise, it might be something about the grass they eat!!!!
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who responded. The client decided to go with someone locally in HK so I'm staying put in Vancouver.
GOOD FOR YOU!!! Well, at least you will enjoy the Grind in summer. What's happening in B.C. nowadays? What happened to the NDP? Are they extincted yet?
Hi Pete, The NDP is almost extinct (only has 2 seats in the Leg & the rest belongs to the Liberals). So the Liberals did what they promised to do. Destroy the unions. They have roll back wage increases for the nurses and have consolidated hospitals and are cutting back on the education, civil servants. They took on the doctors and lost. Next target will be to review all crown corporations and look at privatizing some of these corps. The business leaders here love the cut backs. Minimum wage has been rollback for certain folks. They have increase health care premiums by 50%, other stuff will probably go up. Former NDP leader/premier, Glen Clark is currently under indicment for influence peddling. His trial is currently under way. I hoped that they throw the book at him.
Yell, Way to Go!!! B.C. suffered ten years of far-left socialism. I just hope things will pick up again. I remembered Mike Harcourt's era wasn't as radical as Glen Clark's. Glen and his gang really scarced the daylight out of the local business community. On the issue of doctor's wage, there isn't much a government can do. The doctors have a monopoly on medical care. It's not like one can import doctors from other countries in Canada. Things get to change and must change.
What a pity! But good for the local economy. I heard Doctors in Canada were having a bad time. Because the pay is less, many have been going over to the US for greener pastures. I think this applies more to specialists.
Welllllll Certainly, it's nice to make more money in the U.S., Middle East or Asis. However, no other places match the quality of life in Canada - this I say without reservation. You can have all the money in the world but I certainly do not want to live in a prison-like house or a society with a much higher tendency abusing the use of firearms.
Re: Welllllll Pete, Agreed. BUT if you think about it, most of folks heading down (south) to the States are probably doing it temporarily (for a few years). It's different than leaving and not coming back although I am sure that a number of them probably ended up never coming back after a period. That's why I was willing to consider HK for relocation.
My original intention was to come to HK for 6 months. I end up staying more than 6 years now! For me, I look at the overall picture. I find that overall (this is a very important word 'overall'), I have a good quality of life in which I have learned a lot about other aspects of life and gained more of an "international" exposure. Certainly, I like to think that i have become more open minded to alternative ideas/concepts.
