For Mr Gerald Yeo and Ms Eileen Quay, both 32 and working in the marketing line, sharing household chores in their five-room flat in Jurong West comes naturally.

If she cooks, he cleans up. If she does the laundry, he hangs the clothes out to dry. If he walks the dog, she bathes it.

'We do not have a maid, so it's right that we both keep our home tidy,' says Ms Quay. 'If not, who is going to do it? I can't do it by myself.'

Besides daily cleaning and washing, the couple do a 'massive clean-up' every weekend. The pair, who have been married for just over two years and have no children, simply make it a point to support each other.

Doing the chores was never discussed before marriage, even though he grew up in a household where his grandmother, mother and maid did the housework. 'It's not in his character not to help out, it's in his genes,' she says with a laugh.

Mr Yeo was initially unaccustomed to housework. His mother lived with the couple for the first year and did the cooking. While he says it was not difficult to adjust, he admits that his wife had to give him 'constant reminders'.

He says: 'The main thing was that I had to chip in. It's not very nice or fair for my wife to do all the chores at home. She is also working and her job is as tough as mine, so I try to do my fair share.

'But when it comes to things like ironing, I am a complete idiot and she takes over,' he adds with a laugh.

After his mother moved out of their flat last year, he started to pitch in more.

Ms Quay says: 'After he cleans, I will do QC (quality control). Sometimes he doesn't meet my standards, but at least he makes the effort.'

Mr Yeo is something of a rarity among his male friends who are married. About half of them do not do much housework.

'They typically give the male chauvinist pig reply that it's a woman's job, which I definitely don't agree with, or they say that they are too tired to help out. But their wives have jobs that are just as tough as theirs, so I think it is a lame excuse,' he adds.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.