Our Pledge

I don’t know much about Singapore, but have met a girl from this amazing country who has left me curious to learn more.

Diane Tang, told me that in Singapore all races and cultures live in “total harmony,” with one another.

“We are a multi-racial community mainly made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians,” said Tang.

The 30-year-old Graphic Designer believes harmony to be one of the most important factors in the well-being of her country.

“I’m proud that we can all live together in harmony though all of us have different religions, languages and cultural backgrounds.”

“The importance of racial harmony is instilled into us since a very young age through our pledge,” Tang added.

The Pledge that Tang speaks of was written by the deputy prime minister of Singapore between 1980 and 1985, Sinnathamby Rajaratnam. S. Rajaratman, as he is known around the world, is seen as one of the men responsible for the independence of Singapore in 1965.

The pledge was written one year after Singapore gained its Independence and goes as follows.

 Our pledge:

We the citizens of Singapore,

Pledged ourselves as one united people,

regardless of race, language or religion,

to build a democratic society,

so as to achieve happiness,

prosperity and progress for our nation.

Today the pledge is taught to children, and said by all Singaporeans during the National Day Parade.

“These values are instilled in us from a young age and we say the pledge everyday in school,” said Tang.

Ladies and gentleman, this should be a pledge to the citizens of the world. If we followed these simple guidelines S. Rajaratman wrote more than 40 years ago, we would live in a much better place.

I am only 21-years-old and am already tired of seeing how religion, and race divides us. How many lives must be lost before we can begin to understand that skin colour is simply skin colour? How many wars must be faught in the name of religion, before we can realize that all religions are saying the same thing?

“It’s a weird place (Singapore) whereby you can see an Indian temple beside a Chinese temple or a mosque side by side to a church for example. It warms my heart to see sights like this where different religions can co-exist together with tolerance,” said Tang.

I want the harmony that exists today in Singapore to flow throughout our beautiful earth. I dream of a day where children will grow up accepting their brothers and sisters of the world. A day where mankind will live in peace with one another.

To imagine this today is hard for some people. But we must always remember that great accomplishments always begin with a simple dream.

My advice to you is to never stop dreaming.

Happy New Years to everyone!