Foxconn, a Taiwanese company and Apple company's subcontractor in China, has been criticized for its labour management policy, which has resulted in high number of workplace suicides. Nao, a pro-grassroots group, translated poems of Xu Lizhi, a Foxconn worker who committed suicide on 30 September 2014, at the age of 24, in Shenzhen, China. Below is one of the poems:
《谶言一种》
“A Kind of Prophecy”村里的老人都说
Village elders say我跟我爷爷年轻时很像
I resemble my grandfather in his youth刚开始我不以为然
I didn’t recognize it后来经他们一再提起
But listening to them time and again我就深信不疑了
Won me over我跟我爷爷
My grandfather and I share不仅外貌越看越像
Facial expressions就连脾性和爱好
Temperaments, hobbies也像同一个娘胎里出来的
Almost as if we came from the same womb比如我爷爷外号竹竿
They nicknamed him “bamboo pole”我外号衣架
And me, “clothes hanger”我爷爷经常忍气吞声
He often swallowed his feelings我经常唯唯诺诺
I'm often obsequious我爷爷喜欢猜谜
He liked guessing riddles我喜欢预言
I like premonitions1943年秋，鬼子进
In the autumn of 1943, the Japanese devils invaded我爷爷被活活烧死
and burned my grandfather alive享年23岁
at the age of 23.我今年23岁
This year I turn 23.– 18 June 2013
