| Singapore National Pledge | |
|---|---|
| February 1966 (first version) | |
| “We, as citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves to forget differences of race, language or religion and become one united people; to build a democratic society where justice and equality will prevail and where we will seek happiness and progress by helping one another.” | |
| August 1966 (current version, perConstitution of Singapore) | |
| "We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society based on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation." |
TheNational Pledge is anoath of allegiance to theRepublic of Singapore. It is commonly recited by Singaporeans in unison at public events, especially in schools, in theSingapore Armed Forces and during theNational Day Parade.
The National Pledge was written bySinnathamby Rajaratnam in 1966 shortly afterSingapore's independence. Rajaratnam revealed that the dream was to build "a Singapore we are proud of".[1] He believed thatlanguage,race andreligion were divisive factors, but the Pledge emphasises that these differences can be overcome if Singaporeans cared enough about their country. The draft text was handed to the thenPrime MinisterLee Kuan Yew, who polished the text before submitting it to theCabinet. The finalised pledge was first recited on 24 August 1966 by students of all state schools.[1][2]
The Singapore government's guidelines for the use of the pledge are: