Harry Stemp was born in Uxbridge in 1934. He started his career with the Uxbridge Times-Journal as an apprentice typesetter at age 14. He soon began writing sports for the Times-Journal and eventually owned 10 community newspapers in central Ontario including the Times-Journal. He started writing his award-winning Stemp’s Stew in 1965. The column came to an end shortly after he sold his newspaper chain in 1989, but was rejuvenated in 2006 when Harry became a regular contributor to The Cosmos.
Political games
As I write this the long trip back to Canada begins. We fly from Singapore to Dubai for an overnight in the Dubai airport hotel and then on to Toronto. It’s been a wonderful experience seeing this part of the world and have the opportunity to experience not only the beauty of these countries but be able to communicate with the extremely friendly people who speak perfect English which – as I mentioned – is the first language just about everywhere we travelled. Quebec Separatists please take note.
It was also a welcome surprise to witness how all religions live in unison. They give each other their own space and work together for the community good. Witnessing this saddened me to realize how our politicians have gone overboard to change our customs to satisfy new arrivals to our country. The words Merry Christmas have almost been entirely replaced with Happy Holidays while here one sees Merry Christmas everywhere. And these are countries where the Muslims are in the majority. I am bringing back two small attractive bowls decorated with the words ‘Merry Christmas’. They were purchased at a market stall and sold to me by a Muslim woman operating the stall containing a large selection of Merry Christmas items. They seemed puzzled when I mentioned what was happening in Canada and asked why we would allow that to happen. “Political games,” I replied.
A taxi driver was telling me that Christmas is a big holiday and on December 25th religion differences are forgotten as all neighbours visited each other in their homes that day regardless of their religion. Makes one wonder why Canada fell off the tracks on this one.
Singapore is the financial hub of this part of the world and is an attractive, bustling city, and one resident was proud to proclaim it is the Silicon Valley of the east. As we toured the city we came upon a huge industrial park containing large operations by all the major corporations that are household names in our country, and the driver was quick to explain that the majority of the products produced would soon be on their way to North America because they can be produced here at a much lower cost. We saw this in most of the countries visited, so it wasn’t hard to understand why the U.S. and Canada have unemployment problems.
Buying a new car is a simple matter for us, but not so for residents of Singapore. In order to control the number of cars on the roads the government auctions ‘purchase’ certificates a couple of times a year. The lucky bidders often pay as high as $100,000 for one of these certificates, which then gives them the right to buy a midsize car which will cost an average of $40,000. You get what this means when you realize that Canadian dollars are just a shade above par with their currency. Judging by the traffic on the roads this doesn’t seem to stop them from buying cars, so it is a nice tax grab for the government.
Store clerks, after a couple of years on the job, make about $36,000 a year and of this they pay 5% income tax. From this amount they must also contribute 20% to their government pension plan. When they wish to purchase a home or apt. they can borrow the down payment from their pension plan with no tax implications. About 80% of the population live in government housing, where a three-bedroom unit will cost about $300,000. A bachelor apartment rents for $1500 a month.
In most countries visited the price of a litre of gas runs a shade higher than in Canada, except in Dubai where gas is the equivalent of 38c Canadian a litre. However, a small bottle of water (desalinated) will cost you 90c. A case of supply and demand – water is scarce while gasoline and oil are plentiful.
Everywhere we travelled, everyone was so friendly and the scenery was breathtaking and so lush. This is to be expected considering the countries are so close to the equator and blessed with an abundance of sun and rain. Since it is a long flying time to reach this part of the world, it is a once in a lifetime experience for me. But the beauty of the countries visited and especially the friendliness of the people will linger in my memory for years to come. If possible I would certainly recommend that you put this part of the world on your ‘bucket’list.
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A bill passed by the House of Commons recently and to be considered by the Senate would realign the way Members of Parliament and Senators pay into their pensions and is good news for taxpayers. Under the current pension system, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Canadians are paying $24 for every $1 MPs and Senators contribute to their pensions and, as well, they won’t receive it until the age of 65 the same as the rest of lowly Canadians. The bill means that it becomes closer to a 50-50 split. Bet you wish you had that kind of a pension plan, and must find it hard to believe the gall of Alberta Senator Grant Mitchell to complain that he may be asked to contribute half. I am beginning to think if you looked up the word ‘greed’ in the dictionary Mitchell’s photo may appear. Senator Grant Mitchell, who earns $132,300 plus expenses for a part-time job, threatens there could be a Senate crime wave over pension reform and justifies the opinion of most Canadians that the Senate is obsolete and should be abolished or, at least, an elected position.
Mitchell claims that this small cut in pay may mean that Senators will start accepting bribes in the form of money in ‘brown paper bags’, which he says are offered on occasion. Strange that Mitchell should mention this now and hasn’t reported any of these ‘offerings’ to the police. Guess he doesn’t want to close any doors just in case Senators have to take that route rather than change the ‘entitlement’ attitude of most Senators. Imagine Senators may have to stop sending their kids to institutions like Harvard in the U.S. and may have to go back to driving small compact cars like the rest of us. (Excuse me while I wipe a tear from my eyes).
Sen. Mitchell has only been in Ottawa seven years, but it shows how quickly the ‘hogs at the trough’ mentality of Senators can kick in. It would be easy enough to reduce his benefit contributions, simply by lowering the amount he expects to receive when he retires. I think Mitchell should take that route as it would save him, and other ‘poor’ Senators from a life of crime.
