ASCENT TOWARDS PINNACLE - Community Development and Singapore Muslim Identity in Secular State relates the recent history of the Malay-Muslim community (soon after Singapore's independence in 1965 to present times) in its struggle to ascend from the crisis of chronic under-development, serious alienation, and low self-esteem towards becoming an achievement-oriented community, engaged participants in mainstream society and anchored to the idea of the Singapore Muslim Identity (SMI). The community is evolving to be a community of success and a model for other Muslim minority communities. But the Community's story in the early post-independence years was filled with agony, anxiety, pain, and despair. Nevertheless, the community was not defeated and struggled on with 'blood, sweat and tears'. The persistence of self-help eventually paid off and the turning point came twenty-five years after Singapore's independence.