The Pledge of Singapore in Tamil.

(i can't find the tamil translation of the pledge that isn't an image file. is there a unicode version out there?)

In Chinese:

我们是新加坡公民，
誓愿不分种族、言语、宗教，
团结一致，
建设公正平等
的民主社会，
并为实现国家之幸福、繁荣与进步，
共同努力。

(have you notice how interesting it is that the first line in the chinese needs a verb of being as a main verb, and then all the following lines are tagged on in parataxis? of course chinese is a paratactic sort of language (do you know, i once heard a professor from china say that the way you can tell singapore chinese has been influenced by english syntax is by the conscientious, almost pedantic, insistence on conjunctions when we write. after that i got self-conscious and tried to achieve a more natural style by removing my conjunctions if the relationship between clauses can reasonably be inferred.) but i can't help feeling there is something a little odd about the syntax here. i also feel as if apposition should be possible in chinese, although i can't come up with an example at the moment, and also in this case the grammar really doesn't permit it.)

we all know who wrote the pledge and the context for its wording, but who were its original translators?

yvonne says: "Don't you love how happiness is part of the pledge? "

in the chinese happiness is rendered as 幸福, which seems to connote contentment, a state of blessedness, providential good fortune, sufficiency - which are i suppose some of the meanings of happiness, but not exactly it. happiness has a neutral, secular feel, and i like it for being a humble, homely word, and yet it also contains some of the sparkling elation that 幸福 is too grave and too ideal to convey.

In Malay:

Kami, warganegara Singapura,
sebagai rakyat yang bersatu padu,
tidak kira apa bangsa, bahasa, atau ugama,
berikrar untuk membina suatu masyarakat yang demokratik,
berdasarkan kepada keadilan dan persamaan untuk mencapai kebahagiaan,
kemakmuran dan kemajuan bagi negara Kami.

(you know, the only malay words i know that aren't for socialising seem to have to do with statehood. negara, rakyat (seen on the entrance of every community centre), bahasa and bangsa. well and the ones you see on the train. berhati-hati ruang di platform!)

And finally in English.

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.