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Is giving up a $150k Engineering job in Silicon Valley to move to HK a bad idea?

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  1. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by Geoduck:
    I guess I would consider myself chinese ethnicity but American nationality. I was born in Malaysia, speak fluent Cantonese and some mandarin. Don’t know much about Malaysian culture and never been back since parents migrated to America when I was 3.

    Yes, getting around speaking Cantonese was very easy for me. I just can’t read or write.
    Makes far more sense. OK, give it a go then!

  2. #32

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    I hired my law partner from San Francisco back in 2009 when we were at another firm- he was born in HK, moved to Canada at age 11 or so- same thing, speaks fluent Cantonese, lower level of reading and writing.

    He has had no problem whatsoever finding well-educated, attractive, long-term girlfriends. The female to male ratio is pretty high in HK.

    We eventually started our own business, something that would have been a great deal more difficult in the US.


  3. #33

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    I was born in HK and immigrated to the US at age 8. I returned to work in HK for a few years when I was 23 and only returned to the US to care for my elderly parent. Those four years in HK were one of the best ones in my life, so I encourage you to take a leap of faith and move to HK.


  4. #34

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    I think you will even have better chances to date women in Shanghai.

    Your ideal world would be frequent business trips to East Asia.
    Once you have found your partner, mover her to your place.


  5. #35

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    Feb 2019
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    My take, it is a battle between money and being single forever. Love conquers all they say.
    If you are a US citizen with skills, then moving to HK to find love is not a bad idea.
    You can always go back to the US as fallback if everything fails.


  6. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by merchantms:
    I wouldn't move to Hong Kong just to look for women, that seems a bit extreme!
    but male hormones are a motherf#od3er

  7. #37

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    Maybe dating is just one reason to come.

    California car culture vs Hong Kong crowds. Each has pluses and minuses, but one is definitely more lively than the other. I personally hate car culture and would never live anywhere where I'd have to dirive.

    If someone wants to come to try things out they're happy to do so.

    If it is purely dating, then my first recommendation is change your Tinder app picture to see what works in California. Less investment needed than a full move across a continent.


  8. #38

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    I did the move from Cali to HK, but from Southern Cal. I'd say with everything you give up, you'd better be making double or triple your original pay. Think about housing, children, etc. It's all a lot more expensive and less rewarding (smaller flats (don't even thinking about actual houses), expensive schooling that isn't rewarding to you or your children), and also limited space to have kids, and hiring worker to care for your children, and them needing spaces to live in. Buying a house here isn't the same as in the states. Anything over 6 million HKD you have to pay a lot more down payment. Even though Northern Cal is very pricey now, you are at least getting bigger places.

    I'd say think not just short term but long term as well. If you want to just come and mess around for 3 years, I'd say no problem just come on over it'll be fun and great for dating. Longer term you should really think long and hard.

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  9. #39

    OP, you are literally me 4 years ago. The difference is I'm in defense research and was born in HK, and you are in IT security and not HK native. I moved back to HK and basically doubled my take home pay... While rent wao still $1400usd. where I stayed is prob closer to $1800usd/no now... And in the end, looking back, it wasn't really worth the time spent and being away from family for two years. But if it was for a little longer, perhaps 3 to 5... and I was able to accomplish the goals I set for myself, maybe. Through the people that I met in the IT field, it seems like HK lack quality IT infra security talents. But at the same time, all employment opportunities seems like it's all 6 months to a year contracts. So although your expertise matches, longetivity can be questionable as your stay depends on employment.

    With the turmoil going down in HK lately... You shouldn't have much problem finding someone who will value your passport more than anything else in her life... Now finding someone who will value you for you and will be able to have a career in California when you want to move back..... come on, dual income in necessary in any parts of California that's worth living...

    So if that's what you're down for... By all means, move to HK. Otherwise, I would suggest you to just move to a different job or to a cheaper cost of living market in the states.

    Last edited by importrule; 22-07-2019 at 01:49 PM.
    Morrison and Skyhook like this.

  10. #40

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    AWS just opened an HK cloud and are ramping up... I bet they are desperate for US trained talent at the moment.

    snjt likes this.

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