By Cathy Meng in Vancouver on December 1, 2019
The winter is setting in, dyeing crimson ranges of mountains and the expansive maple forest, the beauty of which forces itself straight into my eyes. However it is not of my own whim and will to be here for this gorgeous nature, but luck has found me straggling here exactly a year so far.
The past year has seen me experiencing panic and pain, frustration and helplessness, torture and wretchedness, but it has also witnessed me learning to persevere with hardihood, to confront the reality with calm and sobriety, and to present a fearless countenance to whatever is in store for me.
I recalled time and again how in Shenzhen time flies like a whirlwind, with my schedules packed to the full every day. There I was darting from one destination to another, and from one meeting to another. Breakfast meeting, luncheon meeting, and what we called a night club which in fact was just a supper meeting, was the part and parcel of a Huawei person. I had always felt a dire need to split myself in order to cope with all those busy demands at the same time and had always lamented the scarcity of time. The only solution to this madness I resorted to was multitasking, working on a number of things laterally any time. But that’s indeed the lifestyle of each and every Huawei staff, isn’t it?
From the eastern coast of the Pacific to the western coast of the Atlantic, from the North Pole to the southern tip of South America, are found the busy figures of Huawei people, all contributing in their several ways. Amid this hustle and bustle, I have never been able to find a moment to sit down for sightseeing or do some reading.
Hurly-burly shortens time while hardship stretches it. Now time is worming along so slowly that I have found ample time on hand to finish one entire book, that I have found sufficient time to discuss one tiny errand with colleagues, and that I can afford as many hours as needed in completing an oil painting.
One year has slipped through my fingers in Canada. One year of your company has filled me with warmth and encouragement. Our Huawei colleagues have left messages one after another in our internal online “community of hearts and voices”, in response to any single bit of news and clues that they can catch of me, so that they, if laying one on top of another, could be piled up to form a tall building.
Our customers and suppliers, at this darkest hour, have elected to give us more trust, support and patience, which have no doubt transformed into more motivation for us.
For every court trial, there have invariably formed long queues of people outside the court, voicing such heart-warming support to me. I’ve also heard from colleagues telling me that some delivery people have scrambled messages on the slips of our takeaway orders: “Cheer on, Huawei!“; “Strive hard, Huawei!”. The few words were enough to generate instant gush of warmth into our hearts. All these bits of encouragement have powered us on to charge ahead.
And countless people have often responded to and posted their messages below news of Huawei online. Some gave us warm encouragement, some expressed their resoluteness, some were long, some were succinct, some were simply plain thoughts dropped down, but all invariably voiced their trust and support for us as well as their concern for me, as ever.
Of course, in this country, the ordinary civilians’ kindness is also memorable. The prison guards and cellmates of Maple Ridge Correctional Center for Women showed me so much kindness as to enable me to weather through those most treacherous days. When the court judges announced their agreement to release me on parole, the applauds erupted among the audience could strain my grateful tears no more.
Once, after a full night’s heavy snow, the security company’s staff went out of their way to sweep out a tiny path for my aged mom in front of our home, which brought the warmth of the winter sun straight into our hearts! Each time I went to court, it added tremendous workloads to the court staff. I’d like to say to you: “Thank you all; I’m sorry for all these troubles to you!”
Those trifling moments, those tiny incidents, whenever I recall them, have never failed to give me warmth and power. I thank you earnestly for all your company, and for gifting me with the warmth of spring. All these have driven into my memory, into my blood, and have merged into some formidable force for me to carry on my struggle.
It is all because of a mere sentence of your messages, and your heart-felt concerns embodied in those words, that have sustained me to finish one book after another, and to go to one class after another despite a long distance, that I, fearless of a sure muddy road ahead, can concentrate to seek the freedom within my heart amid all these entanglements and constraints, and to savour the aroma of life.
The Chinese character Deng (灯) is composed of fire on the left and man on the right. Yes, fire means hope and man is all that matters in this world after all. Where there are you, I see in my mind’s eye tens of thousands of lights in your homes. These starry lights and fires have given me warmth, but more importantly, a sense of direction, which adds some weight to the validity of my belief amidst this utter darkness.
Dear all, this warmth is the beacon that shines clear of my road and propels me ahead! (End)
Note: Photos used in this article are all from the web. This is the Chinese version of this article with one of its many, many hyperlinks: 孟晚舟的公开信：你们的温暖，是照亮我前行的灯塔