Why I don't want kids

Among my friends and family, I am rather well known for detesting kids. So a natural by-product of this is that I don't want any kids, even after I get married. I see parents at NTUC Fairprice with screaming and running kids, and it certainly helps to reaffirm my views (while trying to suppress the urge to knee one in the face).

Reasons? Plentiful.

1) They are expensive. I don't need to elaborate on how expensive living in Singapore is. Having a kid on top of that? Diapers, milk powder, clothes, textbooks, school fees, toys, repairing the furniture, unclogging the toilet bowl? I would rather spend the money on figurines or vacations.

2) They are troublesome. You need to spend an obscene amount of time on them and yet still suffer a lot of headaches. And when they become teenagers, multiply the headaches by ten.

3) Because they require so much time and money, you can't do what you want. You can't just go out for a dinner and movie without ensuring that someone can take care of them. While having a maid is an option, I don't trust maids (my family has had more than eight maids) and most of them are either dishonest, lazy, or take you for granted when you treat them well.

4) To me, the most irritating sound in the world is a kid's wailing or screaming. If only someone can invent some sound-proof mask for kids... 

5) Being a parent is a thankless job (just like being the government). They do not know how much you have sacrificed for them. And even if they do, they may not appreciate it. 

6) You can't control what kind of person your kid will turn out to be. While good parental guidance can help, it may not overcome traits which the child is born with. Even if you treat them well and bring them up well, they may not be filial. Two people especially stand out in my mind. Let's call them A and B.

A's parents are not well-to-do, but in order to send A to the US for his university education, they scrimped and saved. But when A was at the US, he told his friends (with no remorse) that he doesn't care what his parents have done for him. In fact, he even used his parents' hard-earned money to buy an expensive car, and thinks that there is nothing wrong with it. 

B is someone who has no qualms about leeching off his parents, despite his parents not being especially wealthy too. He thinks that spending other people's money (including his parents) is an especially wonderful feeling, and if he had his parents' credit card, he will "swipe-swipe-swipe" and buy a house, a car, everything. When I remarked that that seems to be a life of a parasite, he responded defiantly "And what's wrong with that?"

I don't know A personally. He was just someone my friend knew, and my friend was so upset with him that she stopped talking to him ever. But I know B personally, and from what I know, his parents have not done anything to betray him or insist that he send money home to Malaysia. (Then again, I do know that he doesn't send any money home) So what led to him developing such a character?

So in choosing not to have a kid, I am actually following the best risk management approach - risk avoidance. I think there are other better things I can do with my life. However, I acknowledge that this is only how I feel currently, and that it may change with time. 

The common arguments people give me when they hear that I don't want kids. 

1) What about when you grow old? Aren't you afraid of ending up being old and lonely?

Come on, there is no guarantee that your kids will visit you after they grow up and start their own families. Also, like what I mentioned earlier, even if you bring them up the proper manner, they may not grow up to be filial. 

People without children also spend their lives differently, and this may include forging more social ties with friends, colleagues, pets, and so on. 

2) But kids are so cute!

"Cute" is subjective. You may think that a kid is the cutest thing ever in the whole world, but in my eyes he is just a rascal that sucks your time, money and energy away and uses them to produce noise, tears, and shit.

Q3: Wait till you grow older. You may change your mind by then.

This is the only argument that I acknowledge and agree with. But I do know for certain that for now - and in the near future - no kids for me.