What contextual (social/cultural/political etc) considerations* does the section you have examined engage with and how?
In ‘Fair is Fair’, the first person narrator gives insight into the generational conflict between the young and pioneer generation through their different attitude towards the general election. In specific, the narrator conveys his sense of discomfort with the fact that a lot of young people most of whom are not being serious when choosing who to vote for.
PAP’s supporters aspire to make Singapore flourish through westernizing it. The narrator is from a generation that went through the colonial period as well as decolonisation of Singapore. Reference to the violin and Lee Mei’s wealth implies the western influence on Singapore’s education.
In a 2011 General election, PAP has taken 81 out of 87 seats in Parliament, but the Workers’ Party has picked up the balance of six seats, their best showing ever. This was a sign at that time that the power of PAP was weakening In this story, narrator’s daughter in law believes that the narrator voted against PAP which is in fact not true. From the narrator saying “See even Ah boy and Ah girls are not studying and no one is scolding them because what’s happening on TV now is more important than exam,” we can see that who or which party wins has significant impact on Singapore’s future. Lee Mei is an ardent supporter of George Yeo from PAP(People Action Party) because of “work he does behind the sciences so that Singapore can punch above its weight.” To some extent, Lee Mei is represented as wiser and more rational person from the language she speaks.
Lee Mei categorises the narrator as “uneducated and blame him for the election results.
However, there is a shift where the narrator starts educating us. Here, Ann ang represents the pioneer generations as being informed and wise. The importance of making informed decisions regarding who to vote for.