Getting transferred to HK with 35k net salary

[TeachHK]

I'm going to disagree with most people above about the cost of living and savings.

Just last week I saw a brand new apartment for rent next to Long Ping MTR station (Next to Yuen Long) for 12500 HKD for 480 sq.ft. You can get 700 sq.ft. village house further out for 10k. These are all negotiable of course.

As stated above. Tax will be in the hundreds per year, not thousands. You will have to put 1500 per month into the MPF scheme though.

As for basic food and living costs, 10k should be enough if you eat at home and cook with ingredients readily available locally.

The big, big (and a few more bigs) cost will be schooling. You'd really have to research what you actually want in this area as costs vary dramatically.

[GlennBond]

You missed the Indian guys that come up to you and say, “You have a lucky face”. Then they want to follow you. Have had this a few times.

[Cornmeal]

I'm going to disagree with most people above about the cost of living and savings.

Just last week I saw a brand new apartment for rent next to Long Ping MTR station (Next to Yuen Long) for 12500 HKD for 480 sq.ft. You can get 700 sq.ft. village house further out for 10k. These are all negotiable of course.

As stated above. Tax will be in the hundreds per year, not thousands. You will have to put 1500 per month into the MPF scheme though.

As for basic food and living costs, 10k should be enough if you eat at home and cook with ingredients readily available locally.

The big, big (and a few more bigs) cost will be schooling. You'd really have to research what you actually want in this area as costs vary dramatically.

I second considering villages houses.

I viewed one that was 700sqft, 3bdrm brand new asking 11K (you can bargain 15-20% off that) so if you are fine with a much older village house you might find one in the 8K range. Yes, it means additional computing time on mini-buses, but many villages also have a dedicated early morning double decker bus that runs at 7ish....take a look at Taipo area, you can get to Admiralty in 1-1.5hrs and it's cheaper for food and quite a few little grey market shops where you can get decent clothes for cheap.

If you get a 2F flat you can also enjoy a view and BBQs with your family on the rooftop...

[AbhiM]

Agree with what TeachHK and Cornmeal are saying.

For 13k, you can get a nice, two bedroom place near Mong Kong or Prince Edward station, which should cut down on your travel expenses.
Likewise, if you want to make your mark in Yuen Long (which may be a better place to raise a kid), you can easily get a decent sized place within 13k.

As for your kid, I would honestly recommend putting him in either a government school, or a local, Cantonese-as-first-language school. Nothing eliminates racism here as a South Asian kid fluent in Cantonese. The advantages to your child of being fluent in Canto and English, are several, and it will make life much easier for him, both in terms of further study, as well as social interactions.
To complement this, I would recommend either teaching him English and Hindi (or your local dialect) at home, and possibly even Weekend school / hiring a tutor for basic English lessons, when the time comes.

I'm a South Asian, and have been living in HK for just over twenty years. Feel free to message me if there is anything you need to clarify.

[avocado22]

Agree you'll come across racism. However, there is no risk to your safety. More like police asking for your ID because they suspect you're here illegally or locals saying dumb stuff. I'm sure some South Asian expats on here can provide more info.

I think the most common one is making comments about body odour, usually in Cantonese.

[avocado22]

to OP, I would say definitely consider it, but only if long term your wife planned on working too.