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Culture and Leisure Bus mania Yet, some people consider bus fans
weird. Wong Chi-shing, a form five Wong said he did not hide himself. He just often spends hours on a pavement with his telephoto and wide-angle lens camera on the tripod to capture images of non air-conditioned buses as well as buses with new display advertisements, which he said, are rare and short-lived. "I have to spend at least three hours
each time in order to take some good He added that he would keep tracking changes in the bus routes through online forums and bus fans' websites so that he could follow a particular bus to take its photos when it was assigned to run a different route. And there is nothing wrong for him to take photos of buses like many other bus fans do, he said. "I think it is a common hobby. Some enthusiasts collect stamps, but stamp is just a piece of paper." A number of fans, meanwhile, say they like buses because the means of transport has given them happy childhood memories. David Poon Tai-bun, 19, said when he was small, his parents often took him by bus for a barbecue or to fly a kite on Sundays. But now his family seldom goes out together. "The memory of the whole family outings is really sweet," Poon said. The form six student regularly visits and chats in online forums like Hkitalk, Uwants and Hong Kong Bus Forum, where there are special sections for fans to post their photo collections or to talk about the latest bus news and activities. On those net forums, bus fans often communicate in buzzwords, like "hot dog", which means non air-conditioned bus, and "homework sheet", which refers to the bus drivers' timetables, numbers and routes. They would describe a troublesome passenger as "salted fish" for a passenger holding the handle in a bus looks like a drying salted fish, they explained. The enthusiasts also have a special way
to name a bus. For companies like Citybus
or New World First Bus, the buses are
identified by their fleet numbers, which
are generated by the bus manufacturers. Buses with Kowloon Motor Bus,
however, would be named according to
the plate numbers because their fleet
numbers are hard to memorise, they
said. Among the fans, there are many model collectors. They visit online shops and websites for the most updated product information. Sham Tin-wing, 17, said the news about the products could be obtained online quickly and even before they were released for sale. The graphic design student has
collected about 200 bus models. Most of them are in the ratio of one to 76,
about the size of a tetra pack drink. "Even the texture of the seat can be seen," he said. Collecting bus models is "a matter of feeling", he said, and he always looks for models that are handmade. Collectors said they often go to shops like "80M Bus Model Shop" in Mong Kok, Sha Tin and other places for new models and "Make Sure Difference" in Tin Hau for second-hand models. But for those who want to collect the real thing, they need to visit garages. Some garages sell old buses that are in good condition to fans. "A second-hand bus costs just about HK$20,000. But because most of those buses are old models, their spare parts will cost more as they are hard to find and too old," said Law from the Universal Transport Fans Association. The owners usually put the buses in some spacious parking lots or rural areas like Fanling to avoid the vehicles from damages. From time to time, they will drive their buses around in the city, Law said. To bus lovers, even the unusable parts of old buses discarded by garages, including bus handles, seats, car plates and meter panels, can be treasures. However, some enthusiasts had gone too far that they destroyed bus stops and stole signboards. Law said his club would expel any member if he was found to have committed such wrongdoings because that would hurt the image of the bus fan community. |