Hidden History Brought to Life in a Game

By Ruth Wee

Lim Yee Hung in the HiddenSG office. Photo by Ruth Wee.

What do burial grounds, secret societies and old photographs have in common? For Lim Yee Hung, co-founder of Hidden Singapore (HiddenSG), they are all fragments of Singapore’s history waiting to be pieced together.

Incorporating materials from the National Archives of Singapore, HiddenSG is an escape game based in the real world that uses WhatsApp messages and artificial intelligence (AI) to guide players to the hidden gems in Singapore's many neighbourhoods.

Led by Void Deck Cat, the game’s in-house mascot and AI chatbot, players receive clues that bring them on quests around Singapore. As they explore different locations, players can text their answers to the cat or ask for hints if they are lost.

Interacting with Void Deck Cat. Courtesy of Lim Yee Hung.

HiddenSG has attracted over 75,000 players since its launch in mid-2022, garnering rave reviews about its interactive and historical elements. The game has since expanded internationally, with Hidden Aotearoa launching in New Zealand in December 2024 in a partnership with one of the country’s largest Māori tribes.¹ There are plans to bring similar experiences to Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Players during a game. Courtesy of Lim Yee Hung.

Unearthing the Past Through the National Archives

Lim returned to Singapore in 2022 after a 14-year stay in the UK. “When I came back, I was trying to reconnect with my roots in Singapore,” Lim recalled. In a bid to get reacquainted with Singapore’s history and heritage, he stumbled upon the National Archives which proved to be a treasure trove.

Fuelled by curiosity about local lore surrounding Holland Village, Lim turned to the archives for evidence. “I knew Holland Village used to be a graveyard so I wanted to find the photos before it became the Holland V [we know] today,” he shared. From research, he uncovered historical photographs² and oral history recordings³ verifying that the area used to be a Hakka cemetery.

Cropped photograph of Holland Village with a Chinese cemetery in the foreground taken by the British Royal Air Force, 1958. British Royal Air Force Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

To Lim, different archival mediums highlight different facets of history, each providing pieces of a larger puzzle. “The oral histories give you a lot more nuance”, while photographs reveal places in their former glory. Weaving together both mediums in his game provides players with a glimpse into Singapore’s past. “Because you are standing there, you’re seeing the photo and you’re listening to the [audio track], then your imagination kicks in,” he said.

Research often leads to unexpected discoveries. He did not know that Redhill used to be a notorious haven for gangs and secret societies until he chanced upon an oral history interview.⁴ “My god… all the Sa-lak-kau⁵ [a secret society] and everything was there, like police don’t even go there.”

In the foreground are the Singapore Improvement Trust flats in Redhill Close, 1960s. Eelke Wolters Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

The oral accounts helped paint a wider picture of Redhill. “You’re trying to get to the point where let’s say I’m searching for the gangs in Redhill... the person will be telling you everything about Redhill. So they’ll be like, ‘by the way there’s that thing’. And so in trying to find out more about the gang, by being forced to listen to this person talk about everything with Redhill, you will learn a lot of things that you didn’t know also existed,” Lim explained.

Challenges and Strengths of Working with Historical Materials

While the National Archives holds valuable information about the past, working with archival materials presents unique challenges. Lim describes how finding specific locations in historical photographs can be difficult, as the descriptions or captions tend to indicate the general location and are not detailed enough. For instance, when trawling through aerial photographs by the British Royal Air Force, Lim had to meticulously examine many images before he could identify the exact location he was looking for.

Aerial photograph oriented with north on the right shows the Yew Tee Village area in 1951. British Royal Air Force Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

However, Lim sees tremendous value in having access to such authoritative historical records, especially with the proliferation of content generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) today. With its extensive collection, the National Archives serves as a crucial reference point to distinguish authentic historical evidence from AI-generated content. “[The archives are] very important as a tool against the generative abilities of AI [which] just create whatever people want to see,” he said.

About the Author
Ruth Wee is an intern with the publishing department at the National Library Singapore. Ruth has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English Language and Linguistics (Distinction) from the National University of Singapore.