Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said the general divorce rate increased from 3.8 per 1000 married resident females in 1980 to 8 in 2006.

Speaking at a marriage convention here, he said there must be enhanced efforts to nurture healthy and happy marriages in Singapore as marriages now were also breaking down earlier.

He said two decades ago, only 2.6 per cent of civil marriages registered in 1987 lasted less than five years, now 3.8 per cent of the 2002 marriage cohort divorced before the fifth year.

Balakrishnan said shared values, conscientious commitment and family support were the three key ingredients needed for nurturing a strong marriage.

"I am not an expert in this area, but from my own experience of 21 years of a very happy marriage, I believe that nurturing a strong marriage requires the three key ingredients," he said.

The minister said there must be a core of shared values at the heart of every marriage.

"Our fundamental beliefs, aspirations, hopes and dreams must be shared. We cannot have a partnership for life if we are heading in different directions or have different priorities," he said.

He said the challenge was to ascertain this basic compatibility before marriage because fundamental values did not change in adulthood.

He said married couples should not take his or her spouse for granted and if they truly believed that marriage was the most important relationship in their life, they must invest time and effort to make it work.

He added that a strong family and social support system for the married couple was also important because couples today often faced challenges on their own without the help of extended family living nearby or in close contact with them.

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