Chapter Six - Multiple Interpretations and Pre- / Misconceptions: the Case of Team 'Jurong East'

6.1 Introduction

This case describes the team of eight students from the main study who conducted their explorations in the neighbourhood known as Jurong East.  As described in Chapter Three, Jurong East is one of three so-called regional centres in Singapore. Regional centres are constructs of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which is the body in-charge of land-use planning in Singapore.  Regional centres sit high in the hierarchy of urban settlements in Singapore, second only to the Central Business District in size and function.

The primary purpose of the regional centres is to encourage decentralization of population distribution, in order to even out population densities and ease traffic flow.  Regional centres are designed to serve the needs of up to 800000 people, which is about fifteen times more than a typical town centre.  Half of the team – Leonard, Samuel, Melody and Violet – went to Jurong East on the 15th of July 2004 for the orienteering task, while the other half – Siti, Hashwin, Munira and Shu’er – went the next day.  On the 23rd of July, the entire team of eight went to Jurong East again, this time for the perspectives task.

When Leonard, Samuel, Melody and Violet went to Jurong East for the orienteering task, Leonard and Samuel formed the leading pair, while Melody and Violet constituted the following pair.  Together, they completed the task of deducing the 1.6 km route in 82 minutes, Leonard and Samuel sending a text-message every 3.0 minutes and a picture-message every 13.7 minutes (that is, sending some sort of message every 2.5 minutes), and Melody and Violet sending a text-message every 4.5 minutes and a picture message every 8.2 minutes (that is, sending some sort of message every 2.9 minutes).

<- 5 Comparison of Two Specific Cases at the Same Field Site          -> 6.2 Orienteering task