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Crafting the National Pledge: How S. Rajaratnam put S’pore’s essence into words
One of Mr S. Rajaratnam’s enduring legacies is the National Pledge, which he drafted in 1966. Here is an edited excerpt from Irene Ng’s new book in which she gives new insights into his priorities as he worked on the draft.
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Chongfu School pupils reciting the pledge on Aug 25, 1966, a day after it was recited for the first time by students in all government and aided schools.
PHOTO: NANYANG SIANG PAU
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One February day in 1966, Raja sat in his spartan office in City Hall and settled into his rich world of ideas. Each day brought new conflicts and decisions. But few were more demanding on Raja’s creative faculties than the task at hand – distilling the essence of Singapore’s ideals and identity into one sentence.
The exercise had begun in response to a request for help from education minister Ong Pang Boon. With Singapore’s independence, an important part of Ong’s brief was to inculcate national consciousness among the half million pupils who made up over a quarter of the country’s population.
