Suicide dumps floodlight on protectionist Apple culture

I read with great sadness how the apparently obsessively secretive corporate culture of Apple Inc. indirectly caused a young old promising Production Manager in a Chinese factory to kill himself due to immense pressure from work regarding a missing prototype of Apple's 4th generation iPhone (4G?).

FYI: The recently launched iPhone 3GS is the 3rd generation.

The factory in question is run by Apple Inc's manufacturing partner Foxconn International, a unit of Taiwan electronics conglomerate Hon Hai. Apparently, Foxconn had a past history of alledged employee neglect in its factory, which also produced an Apple Inc. product, the iPod.

According to Nanfang Daily, Sun Danyong, 25, grew frantic when he discovered 1 of the 16 iPhone generation 4 protoypes under his care was missing. He vented his growing frustration in text messages to his girlfriend and a former classmate, and tried to find the missing device, the Nanfang Daily said. But company officials from Foxconn's security division apparently decided he was lying and raided his home although nothing was found.

Despite this, security chief Gu Qinming found Sun suspicious and summoned him to his office, where Gu got agitated and laid hands on Sun in an apparent attempt to coerce a confession. Sun was also alledged to have been locked away in a room to isolate him in an apparent attempt to psychologically pressure Sun to said confession.

Sun's former classmates further claims that Sun described what happened in an online chat with them as one of the most humiliating experiences of his life. As a result of the avalanch of pressure and cloak of suspision engulfing him, the Yunnan native caved in, and jumped from his 12th floor apartment the day after.

According to Steven Lin, a Chinese blogger and marketer, "most young Chinese guys don’t have friends who are lawyers, so they don’t know how to protect themselves in the legal system. They won’t even look for help from the legal system. They will just endure the pressure, and finally find an extreme way to end all their troubles."

This incident caused a furore when the account was published, triggering investigation both by the police as well as Foxconn. Apple Inc. released a statement stating that "(They) are saddened by the tragic loss of a young employee and (they) are awaiting the results of the investigation into his death. (They) require that (their) suppliers treat all workers with dignity and respect," it added, declining further comment.

The company has previously threatened lawsuits against media and bloggers that try to publish information about its upcoming products, often arguing they obtained the information from employees who violated confidentiality agreements. Apple has traditionally build up hype surrounding forthcoming product releases by enforcing media blackout on said products as well as a slew of savvy teaser ads, designed to mount anticipation. This is why confidentiality is of primary importance to Apple Inc. It also explains why there is tremenous pressure working in partner firms of Apple.

While many may feel this is an over-dramatised event, i beg to differ. A life has been lost through senseless discrimination stemming from a closeted and oppressive corporate culture. Why Apple Inc. consistently partners with a company that has a history of employee neglect amazes me. Their press release also leaves much to be desired; it appears Apple's strategy has always been to disclaim any responsibility and to instead apportion blame on others.

• Reports of iPhone 3GS led Apple to state that this is due to users operating the latest gadget in scorching temperatures - in other words, its your fault, not theirs!
• Discoloration of that same device? It is due to 3rd-party casing accessories, Apple claims.
• Same thing's happening here - "We require that our suppliers treat all workers with dignity and respect." How's that for being responsible?

I honestly believe something needs to be done, both within Foxconn and with Apple's contractual clauses. In Foxconn's case, security have no right to manhandle anyone, much less their company's production manager, when there are no evidence supporting their hypothesis in the first place. Even if Gu did not beat up Sun, Gu himself admitted to grabbing Sun's right shoulder roughly. This is manhandling. Eliminate this type of behaviour from the workplace! If, as security chief, you cannot even contain your anger and lash out at people, i'm afraid this bode ill for that company's security.

Also, Apple might wish to consider mandating some kind of audit check to enure employees of partner firms are not ill-treated by imposing fines, which can only confer benefits to Apple by offering an opportunity to swell its coffers while at the same time generating goodwill.