Should I accept a job and move to HK with family

I'm at the second interview stage for a position at an international school...it's time I worked out whether I will accept the position if offered. I'd really appreciate some advice on the following:


I will be earning approx. HK$55000 a month - is that enough for a family of four to live on? Comfortably or basic? (School fees for my children (aged 6 & 9) are covered, as is healthcare.)


Will my husband be eligible to seek work? If so, as a physicist (currently with the Australian Bureau of meteorology) - what are his chances of finding something in his field?


Any comments on how our children will cope or how best to prepare them would be appreciated.


We currently live in suburban Melbourne in a medium sized house on a large block. We know that Hong Kong will be very different - I'd love to hear any advice or comment on just how different it might be.


Looking forward to hearing from you.

Hi,

HK is a great place to live with children - lots of things going on but you need to be at peace with the fact that it will be different, and different for the kids, than Oz. Prep tham that way - set it out as a positive adventure!


Will your kids be going to the school where your job is or do you have to find places for them? Places are in fairly short supply at the moment so if necessary, depending where your job is it might be worth investigating that before you make a final decision.

The Australian school would be an obvious choice but depending on where you are working it may have different holiday times and it is quite expensive


If you are in NT then check out Hong Lok Yuen - great small international school set in a village - houses with gardens etc and cheaper village houses around


If your salary has to cover housing and trips home then I would say you will be living basically (but doably) - other people may disagree of course-lol! Housing is quite dear now and food and fuel have gone up too.


If your husband wants to remain in his field I suggest he contacts universities directly and hopefully they can point him in the right direction.


Hope that helps as a start


good luck!

Personally I think 55K for a family of four is cutting it a bit thin and you wont get a comparable lifestyle that you would be used to in Australia. I imagine for a family of four, the minnimum rent you would be spending would HK$25K and after bills and expenses that will not leave a lot left over. If of course your husband was working and earning a comparable salary, then you could definately manage. Cannot help with what work might be out there for a physicist I'm afraid. The only place I could think of looking would be the universities which is what everyone else has suggested.

there is cheaper housing out there too - round and about HLY and Tai Po. Have a friend in a big (3000')4 bed (large rooms)village house for just 16k


just depends where you need to be


keep asking questions and do some research on the net


good luck!

P.M., I think we're talking about a family of 4, not 6.

Thanks for the advice so far - keep it coming!

We are 4, not 6 thankfully!! The kids would be covered to attend the school I would be working at so finding a school/paying fees is not an issue.

I don't want to say anything more specific about which school as I haven't been offered the position yet however we would be looking at living in the Kowloon area I think.

My husband has had one idea that he could translate technical documents (user manuals etc) into proper English - any idea where he could make a start at that?

Thanks again.

there are all sorts of tings yuor husband can do, plenty of language based document services. It needn't be limited to tech documents either, and you can do this from home propbably by email/internet


if he was bilingual and techncially educated it'd be a no-brainer. But there would have to be plenty of opportunities to convert poor tech (or other) translations to a better level of English.


Expect to pay 1/3 of your salary in rent and it aint going to be like at home.


Don't forget, you get to keep about 85% of your salary, but you will be up for two years worth of tax in one go after you have been here about two years


DO THIS NO MATTER WHAT:


It is a bit commitment, so spend a bit of money and come here for a "holiday". By that I mean go and check out the areas you could live, stay in a place where you can do your own cooking and see what things really cost, see howm much utilities are, see how long it takes to get somewhere, see how cheap our public transport is.


I other words, try living.


I did for only 4 days - stayed somewhere pretty "local" - see if you can handle heaps of Chinese people around you (it is different to back home) imagine what it is like ona daily basis, will you kids like it? Heaps of Xpats trust transfer their life and live in Xpat ghettos, but not teachers so often.


IS 55K COMFORT OR BASIC?

Probably much more towards basic than comfort, but not too bad, if you are sensible and yo husband could get some work.

Lots depends where you want to live.

It wouldnt be a stereo-typical "Xpat" lifestyle, but there are plenty of teachers from Australia here.

If you stayed a few years hopefully the curency exchage rate would improve - it is really ragging a lot of Aussie Xpats off at the moment - increased mortgage rates, worse exchage rates (HKD is directly proportioal to USD inn case you didnt know, so earnign HKD is really like earning USD from the exposure to currency fluctuations)


Depends what lifestyle you want and where you live,and if you are precious

Be prepared for smaller accomodation.

If you husband can get work it would be good - he'd even be able to pick up work as a free0-lance English teacher in any event.

If you view this as a cultural experience with a little saving (not a dash for case) you will probably enjoy it. also, holidays to Thailand, Viet nam, Malaysia, and many other places FROM here are so much cheaper than yo would experiernce in Australia. FOr example, and return economy airticket frm HK to Aust is about HK$9,000 (about 1800 of which is tax). A package in a 5 star in a Thailand resort for 2 or 3 nioghts each for couple can be HK$5-6,000 including the airfare etc - yo can work out the cost for a family So you have "buying power" you cant have back in your country.


But try befire you buy!

We don't have much more than that coming in for a family of 7 plus a DH. But we do get housing and schooling paid. We have a pretty good standard of life, although don't have many holidays,and drive a very old car. If you can get some sort of housing allowance as well even a small one then you should be able to manage very well.

Please also note that public transportation is very afforadable in HK. However, when you buy a car here, they are rather expensive and the parking can cost a lot of money (HK$3000+) at typical apartment.


If HK$55K includes housing allowance, it is a bit thin. If not, you can get on pretty well. Most people here live in apartments and they are normally quite small.

I've lived in 5 places in HK, never had to pay parking separately, in the houses its free, in both apartments we lived in it was included in the rent. Most shopping centres do 2 hours free parking if you spend a certain amount. 2nd hand cars are reasonable, petrol is really expensive and going up weekly almost at the moment.

Have sent you a personal message, too long to post here.

I'm going to say something very different to the above.


I think the pay package you mentioned is VERY good. HK$55k per month + all schooling and medicals paid for. I'd do anything to be on that package!! I wouldn't say that's a basic package.. it is definitely above average. For me, anyway.


If you look at my situation, both my husband and I earn less than that combined, and we have NO schooling or medicals paid for yet we feel that we're above average compared to a lot of hongkongers. Schooling in HK, if you have to pay out of your pockets is about HK$8k per child per month (including activities/after school clubs). With those taken care of and with HK$55k for your daily expenses + rent, that is A LOT of money. I'd stay home if my hubby was on that kind of salary so that I could spend more time with our little girl. Rent doesn't have to be HK$16k per month. A 3 bedroom in Taipo can cost less than 10k per month. Plus a meal in HK doesn't have to be over HK$100... I can feed my family of 3 adults + 1 child for as little as HK$30. And remember I don't have medical cover, insurance cover or schooling allowance so that (along with a need for a helper) take up quite a huge portion of our income. On top of all that, we can still put money aside for our daughter's education fund.


You can also look at village housing instead of apartments. They are usually bigger and much cheaper than apartments.


I think it really depends on individual expectations.


I second the suggestion that you should come for a few days to see for yourself if HK will work for you.


Good luck :-)