This article traces the enactment of the Women's Charter in 1961 to the goal of national construction pursued by the People's Action Party upon winning the 1959 General Elections. The statute introduced a unitary monogamous law for non-Muslim Singaporeans and, by legislating the equality of the wife with the husband, played a crucial role in Singapore's economic progress by encouraging fuller economic participation of women. The article then discusses the contributions of section 46 - modelled after a Swiss provision - which exhorts husband and wife to co-operate for their mutual benefit as well as to care for their children within the spouses' equal partnership of different efforts that marriage is. This exhortation places marriage firmly on a moral foundation. The moral message helps explain the remarkable developments within several areas of the family law in Singapore including the nature of the spousal relationship, parental responsibility to their children and the equitable division of matrimonial assets.