SnapSniperWhich brings out your inner gamer – the distinctive crunch of a dual-band router connecting with an iconic “Fire in the hole!” cry triggering core memories of skipping classes for Counter-Strike, or taking aim amidst the cries of “Chiong ah!” and “Siam Ah! Dua Leng Gong Lai Liao!”, complete with custom Singlish and Hokkien audio packs, made by the iconic games’ Singapore fans back in 2001?
How about both, and a chance to revisit the past?
As part of a 20-artwork exhibition unpacking forgotten and lesser-known Southeast Asian histories, National Gallery Singapore’s “Art Remembers” is serving up the ultimate nostalgia-meets-tech crossover, with a return to Singapore’s classic custom Counter-Strike 1.6 map cs_hdb from way back in 2001, playable once again on a modern 5-system Razer Blade setup.
Visitors to the two-month exhibition (ends 18 October) will get to play two rounds per turn, as five Counter-Terrorists (CT) against five bot-controlled Terrorists (T), to save two hostages from a HDB apartment unit.
If that sounds familiar, that’s because the special map was originally featured in a 23 October 2002 article on Singapore’s The Straits Times’ pull out, Computer Times, ‘Making a Scene’. The custom cs_hdb was crafted by a then 24-year-old web designer, Yonk, Geek Culture’s very own head honcho. Motivated by a lack of game maps with a distinct local flavour during the legendary game’s peak popularity in Singapore, Yonk spent eight months towards the tail end of his National Service, and before moving back into civilian life, building the game’s map using Worldcraft and Adobe Photoshop. Without spending any money, he meticulously digitised his then HDB neighbourhood of Block 472 Choa Chu Kang Avenue 3, complete with bus stop, TIBS bus, playground and even HDB apartment, turning it into a playable map for Counter-Strike 1.6.
Yonk even contemplated adding ambient sounds of neighbours playing mahjong inside the block, though time constraints kept the focus strictly on tactical gameplay. Today, every pixel of the map stands as a digital artifact of early-2000s Singaporean neighbourhood life:
Retro Bus Stop Spawns: Counter-Terrorists spawn right at the iconic, orange-roofed 1990s Singapore bus stop, complete with a vintage orange-and-white Trans Island Bus Service (TIBS) bus.
Void Deck Chokepoints: Tactical firefights go down around the lift lobbies, playground, vending machines, and basketball court.
Elevator & Stairwell Flanks: Climbable elevator shaft and rubbish chute, or even take a shortcut descending from the clothes racks outside the windows.
Every aspect of the cs_hdb map on exhibition has remained untouched and kept in its original state, complete with the “Khabal Gaming” signage on the wall of the Counter-Terrorist spawn point, which was once the No. 1 Singapore-based online gaming outlet for news, reviews, and community forum. It also ran many StarHub-hosted Counter-Strike 1.6 online servers for anyone to play for free. Local modded maps such as cs_hdb, cs_towkay (a Chinese temple by Gamersutra – Charles “Deadfish”), de_college (a junior college campus by Fragnetics), cs_closure (an MRT station by MisO_SoUp) and de_mshs (Maris Stella secondary school by Jian Xian) were some of the popular creations that were on map rotation back in the day.
Screen captures of the cs_hdb map from 2001 (in 1024×768 resolution):
For an added touch of localisation, the five dedicated PC set-ups at the National Gallery feature unique, localised voice packs (by Charles “Deadfish”) that replace the default CS radio chatter, complete with Singapore’s distinct linguistic soundtrack:
- Hokkien (original sound pack from 2001)
- Singlish (original sound pack from 2001)
- Cantonese (original sound pack from 2001)
- Malay (original sound pack from 2001)
- Singlish – Female (new recordings for 2026)
- Tamil (new recordings for 2026)
A translucent 3D print (in PETG and PLA) of the HDB map has also been produced for the exhibit, showing an overview of the cs_hdb map it all its glory, complete with 5 CT and 5 T figures at their respective spawn points.
Art Remembers runs from 21 August to 18 October 2026 at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery 1 and City Hall Chamber, National Gallery Singapore. A General Admission ticket is required, with free entry for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents.
Whether you’re a veteran gamer looking to relive the cs_hdb glory days, or an art enthusiast curious about how subcultures preserve our collective history, head on down to the National Gallery Singapore to show the LAN exhibit players who’s boss.
SnapSniper is an avid geek who is both a huge fan of games and an even bigger Star Wars fan.
Si Jia
Kevin Low
