Life and working in Hong Kong

[legiz]

hello guys ,

just curious about how is life and working in hong kong pros and cons?, my friend as a diploma holder has a job offer to hk , contract base 2 yrs ..
he is considered as a fresh graduate , comin to age 27 . sales engineering ,
basic salary abt SGD 2.5-3k will be convert to HKD abt 13k - 15k
transport allowance , phone bill , rental all would be provided , selling industrial fans..

pls advice generously , thks.

 

[tribal.snake]

have close friends living there. since the allowances are provided, ur friend should have no problem. key issue is the ability to speak cantonese. u get different treatments if u can do so. life's not too bad, hectic and rushy. mornings are a real bitch. neighbours can also be a real pain if u meet the wrong ones. otherwise, life's preety good. spend 2 mths on a job there, work hard, party harder. everynite was at lam kwai fang and weekends on the mtr travelling.

 

[legiz]

have close friends living there. since the allowances are provided, ur friend should have no problem. key issue is the ability to speak cantonese. u get different treatments if u can do so. life's not too bad, hectic and rushy. mornings are a real bitch. neighbours can also be a real pain if u meet the wrong ones. otherwise, life's preety good. spend 2 mths on a job there, work hard, party harder. everynite was at lam kwai fang and weekends on the mtr travelling.

ok ... do u know anything like whether they provide cpf sumtin like that right?

 

[vespa_bicolor]

If rental will be provided, it's quite a good deal, otherwise rental is rather costly especially if you want somewhere near an MTR station (more convenient).

The Cantonese issue isn't that bad nowadays, quite a number of my friends who migrated there couldn't speak at first. May have a bit of problem expressing yourself but nothing too serious. But I would assume most jobs, including the one your friend is considering, would require to be able to speak fluent Cantonese. Pace can be really hectic if you're not too used to it (my recent few years spent there have caused me to see Singapore as a peaceful holiday destination).


Some possible cons? Travel can be quite expensive, as is food, even the daily fare in local tea cafes and food courts. Public transport is smooth and efficient, but the morning and after-work crowd can be terrible. Air pollution is quite bad, although not nearly as severe as recent reports make it out to be, and if you confine yourself to downtown areas it can seem very congested after a while.

 

[deckard]

the weather is so much better than the hot and humid weather here. If i had the chance, I would jump at this opportunity.

 

[tdubs]

the offer is quite good.. coming from a fresh diploma grad.. also.. including rental and transportation.. is considered really good...

one thing I am curious... eventhou being a fresh grad.. did he had any working experience before?

 

[Astin]

In general, I found Hong Kong ppl are very dedicated to the work, very fast paced and flexible to resolve a problem, but the other side is they are a bit choatic and unorganised (vs Singapore style), so many times u know they will get the job done, u just dont know how they do it.

Also, ask yr friend to rent some HK TVB shows and watch first, and understand the typical Hong Kong jokes ppl say, some are actually very insulting if u are not used to it, but they mean no harm in reality.

Btw, $ to $, yr friend should earn a higher salary in Hong Kong than in Singapore, because Hong Kong living standard is higher and more expensive. He would spend more $ on food, on entertainment, on clothes. (he needs to buy new clothes for every seasons)

 

[vespa_bicolor]

the weather is so much better than the hot and humid weather here. If i had the chance, I would jump at this opportunity.

The summer in Hong Kong is about as hot and humid. But then, again, it's only usually 3 months, June, July and August. Spring, though, is in my experience the most unpleasant time, because of unstable temperatures, constant light rain and excessive humidity.

 

[legiz]

the offer is quite good.. coming from a fresh diploma grad.. also.. including rental and transportation.. is considered really good...

one thing I am curious... eventhou being a fresh grad.. did he had any working experience before?

there is working exp but is not relevant to sales at all , he works here for 2.5 years liao , shipping industry

 

[Wisdomworld]

SGD$2.5K - $3K is very low pay in HK. :sweat:

 

[legiz]

SGD$2.5K - $3K is very low pay in HK. :sweat:

bro , this is consider as a starting pay , they say that salary will have some adjustment after confirmation and if job performance is better , i understand that living standard is higher than sg abit ? how is the daily expenses like ? do they provide something like cpf ? i understand we do have 13.5% from our employee mthly

 

[tribal.snake]

2.5-3k is alritex lah. besides they providing so many stuff.
living standards are comparable, just dun go after the finer stuff in hk. other wise, transport and food i find quite comparable. not sure abt cpf as i was paid in sg then, but can chk for ya maybe tmr.

 

[tdubs]

SGD$2.5K - $3K is very low pay in HK. :sweat:

afaik, minimu pay in hk is about sgd $1.3k so his salary quite good.. coming from a diploma and no experience in the field... and also there should be a readjustment if performance is good as tribal.snake said

 

[legiz]

2.5-3k is alritex lah. besides they providing so many stuff.
living standards are comparable, just dun go after the finer stuff in hk. other wise, transport and food i find quite comparable. not sure abt cpf as i was paid in sg then, but can chk for ya maybe tmr.

ok tks for checking for me

 

[aaron80]

If u are interested, just go and dun think so much.

 

[jay9526]

Well, i worked there for 2 years before. There is MPF there, similar to CPF. U will need to contribute only after the first year. If I dun remember wrongly, it is 5% monthly contribution to maximum of HKD 1K. I would suggest to just go and see the world! FYI, local fresh grads pay are miserable then, only HKD 8 to 10K.

 

[Paul_Yeo]

I dun like HK food :embrass:

 

[hongsien]

I dun like HK food :embrass:

Well, you don't have to order or eat it.......there are still other kinds of food there, don't think that its just a backward place where everyone eats HK food only, you obviously have not been there or have you? ;-)

HS

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Haha, you can find just about any group of food there, not just local food. Even HK food has so many categories and types, there's sure to be something one will find nice.

Only complaint so far (for me at least), there are very few places with good authentic Singapore food there.

 

[Paul_Yeo]

Well, you don't have to order or eat it.......there are still other kinds of food there, don't think that its just a backward place where everyone eats HK food only, you obviously have not been there or have you? ;-)

HS

I have not been there bcos I'm afraid I'll starve to death there as I dun like HK food. :embrass:

will go for a short shopping trip one day