Anti-childbirth poster found on NTU campus described childbirth as ‘tragedy of life’

An antinatalist poster was reportedly seen on the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus recently. Antinatalism is the belief that giving birth is wrong in a moral sense.

The poster’s message runs counter to the government’s push to encourage a higher birthrate, and the university has told a media outfit that the poster was never submitted for approval and that the sentiments on the poster do not reflect the views of NTU.

The poster, which ended up on Reddit’s r/Singapore thread last Thursday, Feb 7, says this, along with a photo of an angry-looking baby.

‘SO YOU ARE TELLING ME YOU ARE FULLY AWARE OF THE LIMITLESS TRAGEDIES OF LIFE
AND YOU HAD THE AUDACITY TO GIVE BIRTH TO ME?

ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FUTURE SUFFERING. By not having a baby, you are protecting YOUR future child from:

• Sickness/diseases
• National Service
• Working 9-5
• Natural disasters
• Mental disorders
• Death of a loved one
• Rape
• Torture
• Disabilities
• Sexual dysfunction
• Accidents
• Unfulfilled Desires
• Poverty/hunger
• Old age
• Death
• ALL FORMS OF SUFFERING

BECOME AN ANTINATALIST TODAY!
ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS SIMPLE. DO NOT PROCREATE.
IF YOU REALLY LOVE THEM, DO NOT GIVE BIRTH TO THEM.’

The post by a user called u/CannedSoupSurvivor has been upvoted more than 1,500 times.

Media publisher Coconuts Singapore reports that the poster has been re-posted on the r/antinatalism thread.

Antinatalism has also been making the news lately. An Indian man named Raphael Samuel announced last week that he is suing his parents for giving birth to him without his consent. Samuel, who identifies as an antinatalist, has said, “An antinatalist’s agenda is to convince people to stop reproducing. Why? Because life involves a lot of suffering.”

There may be an individual or a group with antinatalist sentiments at NTU since this is not the first time such a poster has been put up at the university. A similar poster with identical sentiments was put up a few months before this one.

The material put up in NTU must be approved by the university before posting and marked with an official stamp as proof. The two antinatalist posters are unmarked by these stamps.

A spokesperson from NTU told Coconuts, “The posters were not submitted for the university’s approval, and the content does not reflect the university’s views.”

Furthermore, the university said that they are investigating the issue. “We are looking into this matter. Any unauthorized posters will be removed.”

Man sues parents for giving birth to him without his consent