Looking at the ecosystem surrounding the driver of this Yangon municipal bus reveals much about how the changes in this 16 year-old Hyundai has affected which items are carried and kept easily accessible.

The pink alarm clock hints at several possibilities: one, that people who drive this particular bus may require more function out of a time piece than the built-in digital clock that came with the bus, or 2) the built-in digital clock is no longer functional. In this case, both of these are true; the pair of “spares”/fare collectors that work this bus also live on it. Directly in front of the alarm clock are the valves that control the flow of compressed natural gas (CNG) to the engine. While this vehicle was not designed to be powered by CNG, like all municipal buses in Yangon it has been retrofit with a system upon its arrival in the country, eliminating the need to fill it with costly diesel (while Myanmar has a bounty of natural gas, it lacks adequate refinement capacity). Note also the repurposed brake fluid container which contains a handheld circuit-tester, screwdriver, several wrenches, a green pen, and a paintbrush (for dusting, perhaps?). Finally, a formidable collection of rubber bands are looped around a likely-defunct stalk on the dashboard, as one can never have too many rubber bands, and never knows what they could come in handy for holding together.