Anyone else sick of feeling as though they have to "justify" the language they're learning?

Im 21M, im from Canada but on a university exchange in Singapore right now and as an avid language learner I decided I would take Mandarin and Malay while here. I have tons of electives saved so why not?

Now my idea was that I would see which one stuck and which I felt happier learning and I would continue with that one. So far Malay feels like it just works better in my brain. Im flying yhrough it and actually learning, while for Mandarin ive gotten quite unlucky and am kind of stuck with memorization. My prof is just drilling random words into our head and I feel like im not actually learning anything.

So at this point I tell people im learning Malay but not Mandarin. And every time im met with "but why? Mandarin is so much more useful?" And yes, I agree, Mandarin has a ton of native speakers and being the main language in China it has more practical use than Malay, but learning languages is deeper than that. I kinda really find the Malay language fascinatingly simple while still being expressive. Not to mention my trip to Malaysia was really great and I LOVED their culture, food and just the general vibe.

Am I the only one with this problem? Having to "justify" your language learning?