Simon is a minibus driver in Mong Kok. He decorated his minibus as a 'Karaoke Car' for him to sing and relax between shifts.

“If it’s possible, I want to buy a van after the pandemic. On the windshield, I will put out the sign: ‘Karaoke Car, You Pick You Sing’. I can sing, and you all can sing too.”

— Simon, Karaoke minibus driver

Journalist: HK Feature

Photographer: HK Feature

A few years ago, I started talking about how I wanted to give Hong Kong something it didn’t yet have. While thinking what was missing, I thought that while I was in the vehicle driving a route for several hours, singing and playing around in the van, are better than doing other things. So I made my minibus a ‘Karaoke Car‘.

Some passengers asked if I was the one singing. I said yes.

They said, “Your high notes are lacking some, but overall pretty good.” Of course I was happy that people compliment me!

Recently, it took four hours to finish a round-trip route. Business is really poor. Basically, there are no rush hours anymore. I am waiting for over ten minutes for each trip. There are no passengers. People are not going out anymore. There isn’t anyone during the day, so of course the streets are empty at night.

My business has dropped at least half. At noon, I came back to the Mong Kok main station for passengers. At 4pm, I still couldn’t fill my vehicle with 16 people. I am not feeling great. Nowadays, I stopped working at 11pm. How can I work when there are no business? There is no use staying in line trying to get passengers.

For me to have this job, I need to pay rent for the vehicle, but there’s no point talking about my meal expenses now. It’s 200HKD for gas, 800HKD for the vehicle rental—1,000HKD in total. I need to work from 7am to 6-7pm just to make rent. To make a living, I must work over these hours. Sometimes, I am in a great deal of pain.

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【SHARED】Karaoke Minibus Driver | Singing Through Troubled Times

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