I think that's a bit drastic as an advice... There's a big difference between put a few K's a month in some investments and dumping everything into one vehicle.
I think reading is important but until you have some vested interest, it's very theoretical.
I think that an important step is to go into a bank and see what they have to offer you. That's the simplest way to start... The you can do a little reading on what they are offering and what kind of risk that implies. Then depending on your level of comfort with risk, you balance between capital protection and reward. Putting money into a time deposit is hardly worth the effort these days... all that it does I guess is forces you not to spend it. Better a few hundred dollars than nothing some will say...
Funds or unit trusts will generally have lower amounts that can be invested and they are professionally managed and diversified to spread risks. Buying one stock means you live or die by that one stock and in any case, in HK they are sold by blocks of 400-500-1000. You may be able to afford a cheap stock but this weill be very high risks, blue chips which are more established and less risky stocks are a lot more expensive. HSBC for example would cost you a little under 40K to get one block of shares.