The latest edition of Hunt The Mouse is over and done with after 34 days of searching high and low.

This was after two people, with the aid of seven others, found the gold coin and won the pot of S$100,000 cash on Jan. 15 just before 3pm.

Not easy

It was no easy feat, given how it took more than a month after the event started on Dec. 13 for the coin to be found.

Previously, the hunt in 2016 lasted 23 days.

A total of 92 clues were posted on the Sqkii Facebook page, three times a day starting from Dec. 13, 2018 till Jan. 9, 2019 in this second edition of the hunt.

Several other clues were physically put up on MRT trains as teasers and publicity material.

And boy, were there complaints galore on social media when it was revealed the gold coin had been hiding in Jalan Naung private housing estate in Hougang all along.

Complaints galore

Most of the complaints on the Sqkii Facebook page was that the clues provided were useless at best, and misleading, at worst.

This is due to how the clues were worded, as well as the myriad ways the clues could have been interpreted, with a massive number of possible locations in Singapore to dig around for the gold coin.

But one conjecture proved accurate: Just like the S$50,000 gold coin the last time round was placed at Marina South Pier, the hiding place this time was one that was secluded enough to not let anyone see the organiser at work setting it up:

A lot of clues point to Sin Ming

So, here's the thing: For those who feel aggrieved that they were sent in the wrong directions, do not fret.

You are not the only ones out there who feel this way.

One week before Jan. 15, Mothership.sg prepared this article to highlight how the clues appear to point to Sin Ming in Bishan as a possible location where the gold coin was residing at.

However, we thought better of publishing it then before the gold coin was found, as we didn't want to send tens of thousands of people flocking into the quiet neighbourhood flipping things around and disrupting the peace, and possibly, causing a scene.

This is because plenty of the Hunt The Mouse clues pointed to one possible hiding place at Bright Hill Road, which is beside the Fulton private housing estate at the back of Ai Tong School.

But it will be fun now post-contest to let everyone see for themselves how the Hunt The Mouse clues, even though they were worded in such vague terms that supposedly point to one exact spot in Singapore, could have yielded more than one exact location as the hiding place because of how people interpreted the clues.

Here goes.

How the "mountains" and "dragons" clues point to Sin Ming area.

This is the famous Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, which is referred to commonly enough as the temple in Sin Ming. It is visible from Bright Hill Road. The clues appear to corroborate the physical structures in the area as there is also the presence of the golden bell-like structure.

These clues matched the presence of a "bell" and something "reflective".

Engravings also appear to point to the temple.

Bright Hill Road overlooks Bishan Park which is in a trough.

Bright Hill Road coincidentally also leads to a dead end road which limits the number of people and vehicles going through.

Even better, there is also the so-called "unique circle" visible from Bright Hill Road.

Fire-fighting equipment = Fire hydrant

A fire hydrant is located in the private housing estate outside one of the houses about 100 metres away from Bright Hill Road

Binoculars clues

Besides the Facebook clues, the Hunt The Mouse organisers also put up ads on MRT trains, specifically those on North South Line and Circle Line.

Some of these clues appear to point to the Bishan area.

Otters in background suggest Bishan otters?

Construction = Thomson-East Coast Line MRT construction in Sin Ming?

Sin Ming is actually near enough Ang Mo Kio dragon playground location?

Moreover, Sin Ming is not accessible by MRT yet.

The binoculars ads were put up in North South Line and Circle Line, where Ang Mo Kio and Bishan stations, as well as Mountbatten station are flanking Sin Ming.

The picnic mat kind of suggests Bishan Park.

And the stone table and chairs suggest there are features found only at the void deck of old flats in Singapore, which is what one is expected to find in Sin Ming.

An MRT clue even mentioned "place of worship".

Also, assuming this following clue means "1819", given it is the bicentennial 2019 year this year, the missing numbers are "81".

If you google for 81 Bright Hill Road, it is the location of the power station.

The first two lines of the poem clue is: "More often than not,/ you give me a shock."

Could this have been taken to refer to electricity?

Sound of running water can be heard at the power station due to the presence of a drain that is too small to swim in for sure.

Conclusion

Yes, many different people were sent in many different directions as they came up with many different conclusions as to where the coin could have been hiding.

As you can see from the clues explained above, it could very well have convinced people that Sin Ming was the place to be, when it fact, it was nowhere near Hougang.

That's the fun and funny thing about this treasure hunt.

There is no doubt the clues put up by the organisers were meant to confound hunters, but the fact that the gold coin was eventually found two contests in a row, shows it is not entirely impossible with a bit of team work and on the ground searches.

Better luck next time, gold coin hunters.

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