FEATURE/Free Mandarin classes offered as part of drive to retain skilled foreign workers

By the time the clock strikes 9 a.m., the searing July heat is already permeating the city of Taipei. In a private girls' high school, Filipino and Indonesian students are sitting in a classroom, eager to learn, surrounded by coffee, energy drinks and milk tea. Their first task? Sing along to "Friends," (朋友) a 1997 hit by Mandopop singer Wakin Chau (周華健).

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