Chasing My Dreams in APAC (Singapore, HK) - Language Barriers, SDR/AE, Oh My!

Background: 3 years SDR experience from the Americas, first as inbound/outbound (top performer) and then Enterprise SDR on average surpassing quota, both big-name companies in the west.

Have a year-long gap in the resume to travel.

I'm looking to secure a role in either Hong Kong or Singapore, preferably as an AE, AM, or CSM (I feel like more SDR experience would be redundant and I'd be stagnating in growth) but have come up with several challenges.

I have HK residence permit meaning I can work and live there unconditionally. Hong Kong SaaS market isn't that great with most companies having pulled out due to NSL. The remaining big tech firms all require Cantonese and won't budge on that requirement. I'm sure some financial companies like Bloomberg transact only with English but I don't have pure financial experience and they usually require 5+ years of experience in these roles and domain knowledge. Also Bloomberg isn't SaaS. There are companies in Web3 that pop up here and there looking for Business Development Managers (partnership roles) but they also require crypto experience and knowledge. Hong Kong is by far where I prefer to stay (family, etc.)

Singapore is also an option with a booming SaaS market, but I have no PR meaning I'd need visa sponsorship. I'm currently getting declined for even SDR roles. I'm also hesitant because the weather there is intense.

I'm well aware I can try securing a position in the states and then transferring to their Singaporean office after a year or two but that's a coin toss I don't wanna try and frankly am tired of being in North America.

I plan on scaling into a true outbound cadence and applying to 50 roles in HK and 50 roles in Singapore before giving up, packing my bags, and going home to the East Coast. Out of the batch of 50, I'll find 10 target accounts in each of SG and HK and build personalized emails for recruiters and decision makers, action 5 steps including calls if I can find numbers. Where I'm currently building prospect list is LinkedIn for both companies and DMs.

TLDR; Big Questions:

1. I prefer to stay in HK over Singapore if possible but I don't speak any Chinese. Is there a better place I should be looking to find English-speaking SaaS roles?
2. Any Singaporeans here that can offer more advice regarding how I can secure a customer-facing role as a foreigner, and what I should be considering to incentive employers to take a chance on me?
3. Any ideas about my overall strategy? Anything I should add, or reconsider?
4. Any additional feedback is greatly appreciated.

I know the question of why I'm bent on APAC will inevitably come up - I want to spend a couple of years in APAC due to personal growth reasons. I feel like I'm stagnating in AMER in my personal life and APAC really is the place for me.