The Singapore Pledge

The Singapore Pledge

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.

Origin

Singapore’s national pledge was written by Singapore’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs, S. Rajaratnam, in 1966, against the backdrop of racial riots in the 1950s and 1960s.

Rajaratnam’s inspiration was to build "a Singapore we are proud of", while emphasising unity and multi-racial harmony. He believed that language, race and religion were potentially divisive factors, which could be overcome if Singaporeans cared enough about their country.