No, I’ve not written a poem. I was thinking about the Singapore Pledge.
It is with his passing that many have subsequently realised S. Rajaratnam was the one who penned it. Some have recited this for 12 years in their early school years and not known this fact till now. Better late Not too late, I suppose.
I learnt of it in my 20s, when I read The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew. Those who wish to learn more about the circumstances in which the Singapore Pledge came to be ought to read the book (an engaging one, btw).
This morning, I woke up and realised that the Singapore Pledge is a poetic work in itself, both in form and context, forged out of the chaos and unrest in the mid 1960s. Thank you for this, Mr. Rajaratnam, Sir, and for everything else.
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.Source: Singapore Infomap (the bottom of the page has links to audiofiles on the pledge recited in the four official languages)
To learn more about Mr Rajaratnam’s ideas and beliefs, here are some references:
- High Browse Online
- Discovering Rajaratnam – More books and other works (credited to Alex Ong; posted in RamblingLibrarian)
- MICA news releases (credited to Chua Ai Lin; posted in RamblingLibrarian)
Tag: rajaratnam
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………………………………Dont you have like a sound clip for this,it were be cool