To be able to save your first HK$1M(US$127K) in four years, you need a salary of HK$40K/month in Hong Kong. My calculation is based on a single person who has no dependents. Rent is expensive. To rent a decent furnished room, you need around $10-12K/month whether in Central, Wanchai or Causeway Bay. A decent room is important because you want to be mentally healthy. A room that makes you feel depressed is not a good room. I believe it'll be fair to say around one half of HK$40K/month salary will pay for rent, food and clothing and income tax of around HK$47,960.
What kind of job won't require a college degree but can pay HK$40K/month?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this: Have you ever thought about becoming a pastry chef?
How much do Pastry Chefs make? People can be very secretive about their salary. But a French baker I know has told me that he's heard from the grapevine that Mandy Siu was making H$45K/month as Pastry Chef at The St.Regis Hong Kong.
I do not know Mandy Siu personally. What I know about her is based on interviews she gave to Tatler Asia Magazine and South China Morning Post.
Mandy Siu is a local Hong Kong person who has made it to the top as a pastry chef. Because of the interviews she gave, Mandy Siu is the most visible local Pastry Chef.
According to Mandy Siu's LinkIn profile, it took her around 5 years in the industry before she was promoted to Senior Cook (Chef de Partie). A Chef de Partie assists the Pastry Chef. When the Pastry Chef is absent, it is the Chef de Partie who acts as Pastry Chef.
Mandy Siu left The St.Regis in September 2021. That was the time when the HK gov't. ordered all restauranst to close theirs doors at 6pm everyday to try to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Hotels were just trying to survive financially. If there was no Covid-19, I'm very sure Mandy Siu would have been earning more than HK$45K/month. Other chefs I have talked to say that the HK$45K most probably did not yet include any bonus in her package of employment. Some packages can include three months' salary as bonus per year.
Mandy Siu has since founded her own online pâtisserie store. It is finessencepatisserie.com.
If you want to know more about Mandy Siu, just Google 'Mandy Siu pastry chef'.
There are several fine pâtisserie stores in Hong Kong. Their cakes and pastries and macarons all look like works of art. There is a store on the Ground floor of World Trade Centre in Causeway Bay. The store's name is Paul Lafayet Pâtisserie. Take a look at the macarons and pastries. Every piece looks perfect. Those pastries can only have been made by skilled Pastry Chefs. It doesn't get any better than that.
But working as a pastry maker is not easy. First of all, you're on your feet in the kitchen all day long!
So, let's get down to the nitty-gritty here: it is possible to earn a salary of HK$40K/month as a Pastry Chef in HK - specially in 5-star hotel Pâtisseries. The Pastry Chef is responsible for the whole pastry team and is also in charge of creating new desserts. (Pastry in Pâtisseries are almost like desserts.)
There is a school (VTC - Vocational Training Council) in HK that offers a course called "Certificate in Pastry and Bakery". The duration of the course in 4 months(96 hours) and the tuition fee is HK$8,100.00 (as of February 8, 2024) excluding cost of uniform, etc... I was told by staff at International Culinary Institute that the medium of insstruction is Cantonese as the course is intended for local HK people.
I can't tell right now if a baking course at VTC is better than a trainee job in a hotel pâtisserie. But having a certificate to show in a job resume will probably help.
For older adults who have the money and time to spend testing recipes in your own kitchen,there's YouTube. It's free. There are so many baking tutorials in YouTube nowadays!
If money is not a problem, there is a school in France that offers courses in pastry making. It offers some undergraduate programs that takes 3 years. (3 years including 18 month internship) Tuition Fees for the 3 years can range from €55-65K for foreign students. The school is - École Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie, the Rolls-Royce of pastry schools.
