Not belonging is not the same as hating

Was quite a fulfilling day today. Other than my Zbrush not moving much, I got much done. I completed Christmas shopping (It was only one thing though). I had a wonderful dinner at Shukudo with XX. Damn cute waitress. Very sweet. Anyway, back to the entry. I read a lot and being quite an introvert, books give me different perspectives from other people that I may not be aware of previously. I often feel I'm going nuts in Singapore as my peers understand less and less of me. Read the "Resident Tourist Part 2" by Troy Chin and it was awesome. I felt exactly the way the protagonist felt. I even had this "practical" chat with a close friend who tried to sell me the well treaded path. No space in Singapore for non-conformists. There was also the misconception that I dislike Singapore (I even believed that at one time) but as one of the characters aptly put it "Not belonging is not the same as hating". I smiled at that one. It is like someone helped me to express myself. Sometimes frustrations boil because you don't understand what is going on and the struggles within you eat at you. You come to a convenient conclusion that it is Singapore that you've "had it" with. And sure, there are lots of ugly Singaporeans that help support this conclusion. But now I know better. Not belonging is not the same as hating.