Thanks very much for those replies, folks. I really do appreciate the advice. It's good to hear that it's not unheard of for people from non-anglophone countries to find work in this field. Regarding the "white face" issue, I have a bit of a mixed appearance (couple folks even asked me if I was part Chinese), but I definitely don't look like a regular Asian so I recon I'm foreign enough.
20k per month is what I was seeing on starting salaries too. From what I saw on rent and cost of living in HK, I would definitely be on a tight budget, but I'm used to surviving off blue-collar wages in a fairly expensive city (by eurozone standards anyway), so I think I could deal with spending that much on rent and budgeting my food to 7-Eleven meals. I guess the only way to find out is to give it a go