What about Singapore, Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur? The first two are definitely more expensive (KL maybe even being cheaper) but in SG and KL English is the primary language and in HK you'll be fine with it as well.
I'm in KL right now and I am actually very surprised by the high quality of living here. You're right it's not on par with SG or HK but closer to those than any other big city in SEA (Bangkok, HCMC, Jakarta, Manila, etc) - while still being quite cheap.
(That said most people I speak to don't share my opinion here)