During an open house last week, I went to an aquarium with my uncle. Every type of fish tank had certain fishes and I couldn’t help but think about them as representation of people. Within the schools of guppies, I saw the crowds who are living life with a herd mentality. Medium-sized fishes like the Black Angel reminded me of the misunderstood individuals. Bigger fish like the Arowana had their own space, probably because they have big personalities. Anyway, I realised most of these fish tanks had been grouped together based of similar species so that everyone got along, which reminded me of cliques within social circles.

However, there was always an oddball in the fish tank lurking within the shadows. In Malaysia, we call it a Bandaraya fish and it’s commonly known as a Suckermouth Catfish. I learned this recently, but it turns out they are extremely resilient and can thrive in harsh environments. This is because they are bottom feeders that feed on algae and leftovers, which makes them useful to aquarium enthusiasts. They don’t stand out much, aren’t popular and can grow to be invasive, but they struck me as the most purposeful because there was one in every tank. They seemed to know how to socialise despite being the odd one out and were on a mission to keep their assigned tanks clean for their roommates.

In the moment, I found myself inspired by the Bandaraya fish. It made me think of how I’m also swimming in different environments, attempting to connect with different communities through my projects. Creativity and fitness seem as uncommon as Arowanas and Parrotfishes. While it does happen, they don’t usually swim in the same societal fish tank of memes or habits. This thought experiment is making me wonder if what I’m sharing is appealing to Arowanas or Parrotfishes more and how I should organise my fish food in future.

Definitely worth diving deeper to figure out. Until then, I’ll just keep swimming.