We all yearn for a retirement life when we will no longer have to work hard, but not everyone can realize such a wish. Actually, not only for people, but cars also cannot "lie flat" easily after their retirement. A netizen shared an interesting observation from her trip to Tanzania on threads: a retired Hong Kong minibus has been reused and continues to serve the residents there.
A retired Hong Kong school bus has been transformed into a local village bus in Tanzania. Photo source: threads
The words "School Private Light Bus" can be faintly seen on the car body
According to the photos she posted on threads, a Hong Kong minibus with the words "School Private Light Bus" faintly visible on its body was parked by the roadside. Different from its original orange-purple body seen in Hong Kong, it has been changed into a striking yellow-green painting, making her joke, "I saw something impressive in Tanzania! The past and present lives of Hong Kong minibuses!"
The words "School Private Light Bus" can still be faintly seen on the car body, Photo source: threads
The retired Hong Kong minibus has been reused as a local village bus
During her travel, she learned that since Tanzania is also a right-hand drive country, the retired minibuses and school buses in Hong Kong will be transported to here and reused as the local village buses after modifications. Moreover, she also mentioned that, in addition to the school bus, she found that a retired minibus from TVB had also been reused.
A retired minibus from TVB was also reused in Tanzania, Photo source: threads
Other netizens joke: What a hard life for the retired Hong Kong minibuses for their continuous work in Africa!
The interesting sharing has attracted many netizens to comment, "What a hard life for the retired Hong Kong minibuses for their continuous work in Africa!" "The school buses once thought they could retire after years of hard work, but things don't always go as they wished. They still have to work in Africa." "They've become true African-style buses", etc. Some netizens regarded such a modification in Africa as a good way to cherish resources and make the best use of everything. The residents wouldn't easily discard bus parts that could still be usable. Instead of pursuing new models of buses, they would prefer to recycle the resources.
The retired Hong Kong minibuses have got a new release in Africa
Furthermore, some netizens who love traveling also shared that they had witnessed the reused Hong Kong minibuses in Ghana and other regions, making them feel that the retired Hong Kong minibuses would experience a career renaissance in a distant foreign country and seek new development opportunities.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — American streamer and YouTuber IShowSpeed is on the final leg of a 28-day tour of Africa aimed at showcasing the continent's cultural diversity, which is often overshadowed by images of poverty and violence.
The 20-nation tour across southern, eastern and North Africa began in Angola in late December. He attended the Africa Cup of Nations soccer final in Morocco on Jan. 18, then visited Senegal, celebrating the national soccer team’s victory with fans, and Nigeria, where he passed 50 million YouTube subscribers and marked his 21st birthday.
“I’ve done so many incredible things in my life,” IShowSpeed said during a stop in Botswana. “But this trip is different. It opened my eyes. Africa is not what I thought.”
On Monday, he visited Ghana, trying jollof rice, meeting a traditional ruler and receiving a massage at the shea butter museum.
“I am back home, there ain’t no better feeling,” the content creator, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr., said upon arriving in Ghana, revealing that his ancestry traces to the West African country. He arrived on Tuesday in Namibia, likely the tour’s final stop.
For his “Speed Does Africa” series, Watkins streamed live on YouTube. In videos lasting up to nine hours, he sampled local dishes, learned traditional dances and challenged athletes, often shouting in excitement. Large crowds of his followers swarmed him at many of his destinations.
Pape Seye, a 40-year-old resident of Senegal’s capital, Dakar, highlighted Watkins’ visit to the House of Slaves on Gorée Island, a symbol of the Atlantic slave trade that sent millions of Africans into bondage.
“Americans, especially Black Americans, need to know that our histories are tied, that many of our ancestors might have been deported from Gorée,” he said.
Souleymane Ba, a 24-year-old literature student from Senegal, told The Associated Press: “I hope that as Americans learn more about Africa and see its rich cultures, they will realize it is not made up of ‘shithole countries.’” Ba was referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's comments during his first term denigrating Haiti, El Salvador and African countries.
For some Americans, the message appears to be resonating.
“IShowSpeed is single-handedly changing our view of Africa,” GrowYourEther, another American streamer, said in a TikTok video.
“We had been told Africa is primitive, that it’s dangerous,” said American influencer Caroline Jones in tears on Instagram, adding she was moved by the warm welcome the streamer received on the continent.
Others have been more skeptical. Beninese influencer Nelly Mbaa, known online as Afro Chronik, said that Watkins embodies a Western expectation that young Black men be valued for spectacle rather than intellect. She said he's followed not for subtle humor, but for performing “an absurd, exaggerated and grotesque character.”
“If he were to abandon this persona — the constant grimacing, shouting and controversial remarks — his audience would likely disappear,” Mbaa said.
IShowSpeed has more than 50 million YouTube subscribers, 45 million Instagram followers and 47 million on TikTok.
He has built his brand on loud, exaggerated and sometimes aggressive reactions that became his online persona, but also sparked controversy. In 2022, he was permanently banned from several videos games after a sexist outburst against a female player and briefly suspended from YouTube for showing sexual content in a video game.
American YouTuber and online streamer Darren Jason Watkins Jr., better known as IShowSpeed, is served Ghana jollof rice at Independence Square in Accra, Ghana, during his Africa tour, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Tsraha Yaw)
American YouTuber and online streamer Darren Jason Watkins Jr., known as IShowSpeed, meets fans at Independence Square in Accra, Ghana, during his Africa tour, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Tsraha Yaw)
American YouTuber and online streamer Darren Jason Watkins Jr., known as IShowSpeed, meets fans at Independence Square in Accra, Ghana, during his Africa tour, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Tsraha Yaw)
American YouTuber and online streamer Darren Jason Watkins Jr., known as IShowSpeed, meets fans at Independence Square in Accra, Ghana, during his Africa tour, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Tsraha Yaw)
American YouTuber and online streamer Darren Jason Watkins Jr., known as IShowSpeed, meets fans at Independence Square in Accra, Ghana, during his Africa tour, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Tsraha Yaw)
