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I feel I have a responsibility to chime in and give a different perspective of working in HK for those who are contemplating the idea.
I went back to work in HK about 7 years ago after graduating with a BBA from BCIT. Started with a salary of about $7500/mth hkd with $4k rent. Had some money saved up from working in Van so I was good for a while but not enough to feel comfortable on a monthly basis. Worked for about 1.5 yrs in a trading company and eventually got to about $15k salary before I quit and moved on. No bonus, no OT pay, just long ass hours and hopelessness...BUT learned a lot about doing business in HK/China especially in the trading business.
7 years later, I have my own business in HK and manufacturing facility in china. Bought a house yes a House not a flat. Have 4 cars, 4 dogs, a wife, a baby coming, mid 6 figures mthly after tax, over 8 figures in liquid assets (not including real estate), and work about 3 hours a week.
This is what working in HK/China can be if you make it. Its full of opportunities that Vancouver will never bring. Everything is fast paced and everyone wants to make money rather than chill out, spark a J and have a beer. Everyone works hard and long hours just to gain that extra advantage in this dog eat dog market. In a very short time, you can learn a lot if you're under the right positions and mentors. You learn how to win and most importantly how to swallow a big loss and get yourself back up especially if your into trading stocks. I've lost many times and have even gone broke with debt and have hated each day in HK during my grind. I wanted to give up so many times and just move back to van, get a decent paying job, regular hours, no risk, no frills, and enjoy life.
I hated living in hk since I've spent most of my life in Van but these early years are crucial in terms of taking risk and working hard. Make sacrifices, lose and learn to win. Aside from the freedom I have now, I really still don't enjoy living here that much. Too many people, too many cars, too many extremely wealthy people, too fast paced, too hot, too many fake people, stuff too expensive, "fry" this "fry" that, too much ass kissing, and too many shoes to shine. The good thing now is that I've structured my personal life to be as far away from all that BS while still living/working in hk.
What I'm saying is if you're an ambitious person with a high risk tolerance then try things that are out of your comfort zone, especially when you're still young. Everyone wants to be well off/rich but nobody seems to try or have a plan in achieving it. When everyone is going towards one direction, what benefit is it to you to walk that way with the crowd? No pain no gain is the easiest way to put it. I hated everyday during the grind but I never regretted one thing that I did and one decision that I made. I took a big step to decide to work here and a big commitment to stay during the toughest times of my life. I don't come from a rich family, middle class at best and most importantly, nothing to fall back on.
The truth is, a lot of my friends that came back to work haven't fully succeeded yet but a good percentage have. Much more than the ones that stayed in Van. The ones who are still in Van are living a very stagnant life and have lost their ambition and goals that they once had when we were in school. In many ways I feel that they have just given up and accepted mediocrity. To be honest, my friends in Van are much happier than the ones in HK. I guess that's the trade off in life.
I made an ultimate goal when I was 25 to be able to move back to Van and retire by the age of 35. Watch my children grow up in a place that I call home and be able to truly spend time with my family. Although it sounds like wishful thinking, there were also many smaller goals that needed to be achieved during this timeline which makes objectives/goals setting that important if you want to succeed in something. I haven't reached that point yet as I still have 6 good years to go but its looking like I'm on the right path and my decisions were right and my risk payed off. I don't consider myself rich or well off in HK but I do feel extremely grateful for the things that happened and to feel free.
No one starts off with experience but if you want to learn and gain experience fast, this is the place to be. It doesn't get more real than this little city. I wish everyone who does attempt to work in HK the best of luck.
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