Back 10 years ago Singapore was encouraging its chinese citizens to study Mandarin as a second language. To quote Wikipedia, "English is the medium of instruction in Singapore schools. "

Once, when we were taking trains and buses to do a lot of shopping for boat parts, etc. in Singapore, we got off a bus and were completely confused. We asked directions of a chinese fellow who got off that bus with us. As he walked along showing us where we needed to go, he chatted about where we were from, etc. in excellent English. Our answer that we were from the US prompted his comment that he had not yet visited the US but hoped to, soon. But he had been to Germany recently. In answer to my question about how he liked Germany, he said, "the people are nice, but they all speak German"!

Primary of the things that I liked about Singapore was that even though about 74% of its population speaks some chinese dialect, all public signs are in four languages: English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. This is a country that apparently is more concerned about being able to communicate among themselves than with a language that identifies them ethnically and culturally. Contrast that to the small but very loud factions in the US who resent and try to prohibit any attempt to recognize any other language in the US (U.S. English movement, for example). Perhaps that's why Singapore, with so few natural resources (they aren't even self-sufficient in water) is so successful.

We met the manager of the Grand Banks yard in Malaysia in 2000, and he was an American. I don't think English is a handicap for potential job seekers.