LAHUNG WAN - WEEK 5 REFLECTION

WEEK 5 (WEEK 1 REPOST)

Based on your reading of “Things Fall Apart”, what aspects of Igbo culture allow British to take over?

Since Sarawak has also undergone colonisation, how has this affected aspects of culture in our society?

Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak?

            In the novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, the colonisation of British clearly changed the lives of the Ibo people. The British did not only colonised the land but also their beliefs and religion. From what I saw, some of the Ibo people seems to allow the changes that the British has brought. This is because they are the people who seem to be put aside by their own beliefs and religion when they have not done anything wrong, logically. For example, the mothers who had their twins killed, the outcasts, the efulefu who are considered worthless, and the people who have second thoughts on their beliefs including Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son had turned their back from their beliefs and religion. They chose to believe in Christianity which had been preached by Mr. Smith and Mr. Brown to villages of the Ibo people such as in Umuofia, Mbaino, Mbanta and also other villages. Other than that, the Ibo people also allow the British to make development in the aspects of their education. In Chapter twenty one, the people began to come to school even at first they were sending their slaves and also their lazy children to school to read and write. These accommodations of mind of the Ibo people had allow the British, preferably Mr. Brown to take over. Before the coming of the British, the education that people received seems to be only based on practical skills such as survival in the forest and it had changed after the British built school.

            Sarawak also has the same fate with the villages in the novel as there are colonists came to the land and take over the land in almost every aspect. However, the acceptance between the Ibo people and the native Sarawakians before is rather different as the Sarawakians seem to be more welcoming although there are some rebels burst out by the warrior such as Tun Jugah, Rentap, Sharif Masahor and others. The people in Sarawak accepts the colonisation of Rajah Brooke because he brought a complete development where the people are benefitted from the actions. That is why now, many elder people still know how to speak English fluently because they learned to read and write when they are colonised. In this case, they are the same as the Ibo people that had added formal education into their lives rather than only depending on practical skills education by their father or mother. Furthermore, the colonists also bring a new religion for the Sarawakians during the time of their colonisation. Before they came, the Sarawakians used to believe old customs and childrens, superstitions and so on. After the colonist came, they are Christianised and make a new devotion to the religion and left their old beliefs. Other than that, some of the Sarawakians also got married to Englishmen, breaking their circles of marriage. For example, in Kayan traditional culture, a Maren Uma woman(the aristocrats) cannot be married to a Panyin man(the commoner) and also outsiders. However, the tradition already changed where some people already married to the Englishmen and the colonisation had clearly affected the cultures. Anyhow, the conservation of our cultures must keep going on to prevent the loss of cultures.

There are clear changes brought in the lives of the indigenous tribes both in Africa and Sarawak. When the colonists came, the people tend to forbid the changes. However, as time passed, the people began to experience changes in many aspects especially economy and education. In both tribes, the colonists tend to educate the people so that they can read and write because it is needed for an individual to have basic knowledge of formal education in to survive the future. Other than that, the colonist also improves the economy of those people where the natural resources in those places are being imported and exported throughout the world. For example, the colonists dig gold mines in Sarawak to be sold and supplied to overseas. These changes did not bring absolute suffer but a chance for development and to glimpse into the future. So, to conclude, the colonisation cannot be considered as a full degree of misfortune but a chance to change, a chance to rise up as a tribe, and a chance to survive.

MOHD IRWANDY - WEEK 5 REFLECTION

WEEK 5 Reflection (Week 1 Re-post)

Based on your reading of “Things Fall Apart”, what aspects of the Igbo culture allow the British to take over?
Since Sarawak has also undergone colonisation, how has this affected aspect of culture in our society?
Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak?

              From my observations, the colonisation that happens to the Igbo culture had also somehow reflected the colonisation that happened to my own state, Sarawak. Based on my reading, there are some aspects of the Igbo culture that allowed the British to take over.
One of the aspects is the close mindedness of the few Igbo people. Their belief in exiling some of the outcast is one of the examples. Their action towards the outcast and most importantly, towards the birth of a twin is absurd and this led to the dissatisfaction of some of the Igbo people mainly the mother who conceives them. This feeling of dissatisfaction leads to an opening for the British to easily gain some support from the Igbo people and thus taking over them. Other than that, the lack of security or organized defence system had rendered the Igbo people helpless towards attacks or provocation done by the British. This is proven when some of the villager in Abame killed a white man and resulted in them being exterminated by the white men that came after that. It was very easy for the British to attack the villagers due to the lack of security. Furthermore, the promise of a better life for the outcast was also the cause of why the British could easily take over the Igbo people.
     
             Sarawak had also undergone colonization and certain aspects of culture in Sarawak had been affected by it. For instance, the cultural diversity or the multiculturalism. During the colonization, the abundant Chinese immigration to the land of hornbill had not only increases the population but also the diversity of it. Another aspect is the economy. Because of colonization, Sarawak economy does not only depend on plantation anymore. The discovery of petroleum and natural gas had made Sarawak one of the wealthiest at that time.

             The similarities of the effect of colonization towards the African and Sarawakian is some of the changes that is brought about towards their indigenous tribes. From the moment the colonization happen, the Dayak for example became more involved in the economic aspect of Sarawak. This results in more common interface with other races such as Malay and Chinese. Other than that, Sarawak becomes more modernized in the aspect of technology and also economic when the colonial introduced more advance technologies and also ways of economy.

DARREL UNCHATT - PERFECT CHARACTER A DELUSION OR REALITY

Perfect Character A Delusion or Reality

In the novel Animal Farm, the hope for a better world remains unattainable. Even with the change of governance, the animals are eventually mistreated. How is it possible that the longing for good can turn awry when the person is in power for long?
In the case of Okonkwo, he is not painted as someone who is without fault. In fact, he is in many ways a tragic hero. Neither is he a person who is evil despite his part in killing Ikemefuna. Based on your understanding of him in the novel, reflect on the following questions:

How has Okonkwo been a figure of inspiration and disappointment to his people?


Firstly, being a leader of his clan had made him as the inspiration to his people. A leader is chosen by his/her own people based on the qualities that a leader should be – rich, powerful, brave, strong and hardworking. In Okonkwo’s case, he was chosen because of his richness for he had a yam plantation and he worked very hard. Besides that, as a leader, he would fight in order to defence his clans. For example, he fight against the missionaries because they tried violated the traditional beliefs.

For the disappointment part, he became a tragic hero at the end of the story which the main protagonist of the story should not portray. He killed himself for he failed to defence his clans. So, it was a disappointment for his people to see a leader killed himself without finding other ways to settle the problems.
What are the characteristics of Okonkwo that you can find in your nation's leader?
One characteristic that I can find in our nation’s leader is dared to take risks. The leader that I inspired by is Tun Dr. Mahathir Muhammad. He was the fourth prime minister of Malaysia and considered one of the best of leader of Asia for he had contributed in putting the country’s name, Malaysia onto the map of the world.

He dared to take risks can be portrayed when he challenged the CEO of the Petronas company to build a tallest twin tower in the world. At first, people of Malaysia were not agree on the prime minister’s purpose for it would cost a loss to the nation but he sticked to his principal and continued the construction. When the towers were completed, then the people realize that the towers did benefits the country especially in the business and tourism sectors.

DARREL UNCHATT - WEEK 5 REFLECTION

WEEK 5 REFLECTION (Week 1 Re-post)


In your respective blogs, think reflectively of the issues found in the novel. The following questions should help you in your analysis:

Based on your reading of “Things Fall Apart”, what aspects of the Igbo culture allow the British to take over?
As mentioned in the “Things Fall Apart”, British had taken over Nigeria during the 1800s. The first aspect is the Igbo people were not aware that the British colonised their land until the British introduced the new religion, Christianity and vanished most of their cultures. The Igbo seemed to invite them openly to their land without knowing the British other intention which was to change the people and also the whole country which they would have a hard time to adjust the new changes. They think that by letting the British build the church in the Evil Forest, all of them will get rid but they are wrong. Starting from that, the British slowly take over their land. Second aspect is the Igbo were not uniting at the time the British came. It was their weakness that the British was easily colonised them without taking too much time and converted most of them into Christianity. Last but not least is most of their custom beliefs and cultures were against the Christianity beliefs and also the humanity. For example, the killing of one of the twin was rejected by the missionaries because it is against the new religion and also the Igbo people were amazed by the story of the Jesus Christ’s life.

Since Sarawak has also undergone colonisation, how has this affected aspect of culture in our society?
Sarawak was undergone colonisation by three powerful powers – The Sultanate of Brunei, the White Rajahs and the British. Each power had affected the aspect of culture of the society during that time and until now. The White Rajah or the Brooke’s dynasty was very obvious which had affected the society’s culture. Before Captain James Brooke came to Sarawak, the people were not united as the Malays stayed along the coast lines and the indigenous people stayed in the deep forest. After seeing the situation, the first Rajah of the Kingdom of Sarawak tried to find ways to unite them by introducing them to agriculture. The Malays would work as farmers and the Dayaks would work in the timber sectors. Besides that, the Rajah also welcomed the Chinese and the Indian immigrants as workers but then most of them brought their family and settled down. From my point of view, the Brooke’s dynasty really changed Sarawak on how he brought the Sarawak people together and we still feel the unity until now.

Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak?
A lot of changes have been brought in the lives on both tribes. Firstly is unity. The indigenous tribes of both nations began to unite when the colonisers came to colonise their place. Realising that the lands would be taken by the outside’s power, people tended to join forces to defence their land before it would be exploited. For example, Sarawak, the society was not agreed that James Brooke took over their land. They began to fight the Brooke’s soldiers but as the time passed, they were realised that Brooke was doing the right thing for the new country and for the future of Sarawak. Secondly, the two nations were introduced with the new religions. Most of the indigenous people were converted to the Christianity without force. The missionaries know how to persuade them to covert. Besides the missionaries did not vanishing the local traditional beliefs but to obey them as long as it is not against the religion.

AFIQ AZMAN - PERFECT CHARACTER A DELUSION OR REALITY

Perfect Character A Delusion or Reality
In the novel Animal Farm, the hope for a better world remains unattainable. Even with the change of governance, the animals are eventually mistreated. How is it possible that the longing for good can turn awry when the person is in power for long?
In the case of Okonkwo, he is not painted as someone who is without fault. In fact, he is in many ways a tragic hero. Neither is he a person who is evil despite his part in killing Ikemefuna. Based on your understanding of him in the novel, reflect on the following questions:

How has Okonkwo been a figure of inspiration and disappointment to his people?

What are the characteristics of Okonkwo that you can find in your nation's leader?


In my opinion, a perfect character is something that everyone strive for in real life. It is not delusional because from religious aspect, all God's creations are perfect. Your perspective determine your perception on perfection.

For Okonkwo case, he is the leader of his community. In a community, they listed a list on how a leader should behave. For example, responsible, brave, intelligent and etc. Thus, Okonkwo are bound to this character and despise his father for not being all of the above. He also doesn't accept failure as a part of life. Okonkwo has been a figure of inspiration for his community, until he commits murder (Ikemefuna). From that day onwards, his society has change their outlook on Okonkwo.

Okonkwo's characteristics are brave, outspoken and never gives up for his people. In this way, I think the minister of Terengganu, Ahmad Bin Said, portrayed all the characteristics. He is the current minister for Terengganu. In my opinion, he never gives up to improve the economic state of Terengganu.

LAHUNG WAN - RELIGIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS

Week 3
Religions and superstitions
Karl Marx once commented that 'religion is the opium of the people'. Do you agree with him? In the case of Umuofia, do you think their native religion stunts their development? Is the 'new' religion seen as a way of bringing development to Umuofia?

Apart from religion, superstitions play an important part in the Ibo culture. Do you have your own sets of superstitions which you find difficult to discard?

The following points can help you as you write your reflective post on the role of religion and superstition in the novel and in your life:
• Analyse how superstitions and religions play in the life described in the novel.
• Do superstitious beliefs and religion affect the development of a country? How?
• How does one's beliefs affect the nation in terms of politics and culture?


Chinua Achebe’s novel of ‘Things Fall Apart’ is an example of a novel that narrates about the life of the native tribe of Ibo people which have their own belief since their ancestors. Karl Marx once said that ‘religion is the opium of the people’. I think I agree with the statement because the Ibo people seem to be devoted to their religion which is inherited by them from their ancestors by following all the rules and regulations and avoiding any violation of the religion rules. For example, the Ibo people throw away their born twins just because their native religion believes they will bring misfortunes. Other than that, the Ibo people also celebrate the Week of Peace and during the week, one of the rules is that they are not allowed to bring up a fight or beat people. As Okonkwo beat up his second wife Ojiugo for not being around their house compound when she supposed to cook for her husband, he have to pay penalties for breaking the law of their religion no matter position he is in. These rules that the Ibo people are following is the evidence that their religion is the ‘opium’ for them. This is because they follow all the rules without question it though some of them did. The ‘opium’, in my opinion is what is addictive and we can be restless or lost if we don’t have it. So, in this context of the Ibo people’s religion, their religion is what they need always and they feel they will be lost if they don’t have it.


Superstitious belief is something that sounds old and not modern. So, for me, it affects the development of a country. In the novel, the Ibo people believe superstitions and it is a part of their life. For example, they refer to Oracle of the Hills whenever they want to do any business such as planting yams and to cure diseases or prevent bad omens. Superstitions prevent development because the community will stuck to what they believe and they do not move on to think new things to discover other than referring to the Oracle. Other than that, development also cannot reach the community because they are afraid to change and worry that they will be doomed if they give a go for changes.


Every individual have their own belief over something. It affects them in many aspects including politically and culturally. Politically, a person can accept or make exceptions to any changes that occur in politics. If a person believes in God, then he will be able to differentiate what is good for him and for the nation. He will support how the government govern the nation as he believes that the political individuals can rule their country. Culturally, one belief does affect the aspect directly or indirectly because a person will view cultures based on his or her own opinions. For example, eunuchs is a cultural practice that require the castration of men to make them “genderless”. This kind of practice will not appear to be appealing for a person who have religion such as Christianity or Islam because such religions forbid any changes made to one’s body as the body is believed to be a gift from God.









Week 4
Perfect Character A Delusion or Reality
In the novel Animal Farm, the hope for a better world remains unattainable. Even with the change of governance, the animals are eventually mistreated. How is it possible that the longing for good can turn awry when the person is in power for long?

In the case of Okonkwo, he is not painted as someone who is without fault. In fact, he is in many ways a tragic hero. Neither is he a person who is evil despite his part in killing Ikemefuna. Based on your understanding of him in the novel, reflect on the following questions:

• How has Okonkwo been a figure of inspiration and disappointment to his people?
• What are the characteristics of Okonkwo that you can find in your nation’s leader?

Okonkwo, the protagonist, has affected the plot of the story and he is an inspiration for the Ibo people as well as the bad example for people to avoid. Okonkwo’s life before he earned titles and achievements was hard where his father Unoka does not play the role of a father that provides for the family. Okonkwo did not want to be like his father and he try his luck to plant yams and he was lucky as he received seeds of yam from a man named Nwakibie. From that point on, his fate seems to be better and he finally earned titles, married to 3 wives and he also got a title of “The Roaring Flame” when he defeated Amalinze The Cat when they fought. However, as the wheel turned and his fate changed again, he began to be a bad example for the Ibo people as he accidentally killed a boy during a funeral. He and his family was casted away from their village Umuofia and went to stay in Mbanta, his mother’s village. His bad luck does not end there and he ended his life tragically when he hung himself. This has proved that he is not the hero that people admire but the tragic hero who was once admired but then ended his life as black memory.


Even though Okonkwo was a tragic hero, he still posses the quality of a leader. A leader is the person who can lead and people must follow and obey. Our Prime Minister, Dato’ Najib Razak is a good leader who also posses the same characteristics just like Okonkwo. Both of them share the leadership qualities and of them is confidence. Confidence is needed in a leader because the leader will be the one who will voice up for the people. They also share dignity as they are seen as strong and powerful even though their strength is seen in a different way by the people. This is because people see Okonkwo as powerful by his physical strength and fierceness and people see our PM as strong by his wise words and ideas that rules the people. Other than that, they also have the hard work in them that had made them who they are. Okonkwo had worked very hard to earn a place in people’s heart and same goes to our PM as he was once also start from the ground and then become the minister, upgraded to Deputy Prime Minister and finally, The Prime Minister. So, that is the qualities that I found in the nation leader that Okonkwo also posses.

MOHD IRWANDY - PERFECT CHARACTER A DELUSION OR REALITY

Perfect Character A Delusion or Reality
In the novel Animal Farm, the hope for a better world remains unattainable. Even with the change of governance, the animals are eventually mistreated. How is it possible that the longing for good can turn awry when the person is in power for long?

In the case of Okonkwo, he is not painted as someone who is without fault. In fact, he is in many ways a tragic hero. Neither is he a person who is evil despite his part in killing Ikemefuna. Based on your understanding of him in the novel, reflect on the following questions:

How has Okonkwo been a figure of inspiration and disappointment to his people?
What are the characteristics of Okonkwo that you can find in your nation’s leader?


In the storyline of Things Fall Apart, I’ve observed that the protagonist, Okonkwo had once become an inspiration but also a disappointment to his people. He became an inspiration when he came back to Umofia from his exiled years. When he arrived, he saw that most of his people had already succumbed to the colonization that was ongoing. The resistance for this was getting weaker and Okonkwo as he saw this was a bit enraged by it. He sought his people and assembled as much willing men to support him against the colonizer. He inspired some of his people to fight back against the white men. Unfortunately, when the messenger came and Okonkwo killed him, and when he killed himself, he became a disappointment to his people. His death became a tragic death in which his culture condemns even his own people to touch him until he was buried.

Other than this, I observed also that some of Okonkwo characteristics also exist in a nation’s leader that I admired that is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Dr Mahathir has the persistence and the will of hard work that Okonkwo’s had. When the nation’s economy was at the brink of collapse, at the time, the logical move was to take a loan from the World Bank. However, to prevent the country from being further in debt, Dr Mahathir did not asked for the loan but came up with his own economic plan that revived the nation’s economy and thus saving the country from a massive debt. Okonkwo has this persistence when he was exiled to his motherland. Rather than giving up, he prospered in his motherland when he managed to grow crops and still can feed his family.

DARREL UNCHATT - RELIGIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS

Religions and superstitions
Karl Marx once commented that 'religion is the opium of the people'. Do you agree with him? In the case of Umuofia, do you think their native religion stunts their development? Is the 'new' religion seen as a way of bringing development to Umuofia?

Apart from religion, superstitions play an important part in the Ibo culture. Do you have your own sets of superstitions which you find difficult to discard?

The following points can help you as you write your reflective post on the role of religion and superstition in the novel and in your life:
• Analyse how superstitions and religions play in the life described in the novel.
• Do superstitious beliefs and religion affect the development of a country? How?
• How does one's beliefs affect the nation in terms of politics and culture?


Through the story, Chinua Achebe describe that the superstitions and religions have a big impact in their life. The readers can see that how the Igbo people relate their superstitions belief in their daily life basis. For example, they worshipped the goddess of the earth and avoid from committing any sins for fear that a catastrophe that might sweep all the entire generations.

For religions, the Christian missionaries play much roles in changing the mentality and the culture of the local people. the missionaries tried to introduce the new religion and help the local people to leave their cruel beliefs such as the scarification of the baby.

I believe that superstitious beliefs and religion do affect the development of a country. This is because a country depends on the people’s state of mind in order to run their country. Based on the novel Things Fall Apart, the Igbo people did not aware about the outside of their country until the British came and colonised their country. For example, the Igbo thought that the bicycle was a metal horse. So, from the example, without knowing and too much stick on the superstitious beliefs and religion, we are not going to learn something new that is outside our beliefs.

After all this modernization that has taken place, beliefs persist in our societies. How they affect the nation in terms of politics and culture? It is all depend on the one’s mentality. Based in the novel, it is so obvious that Okonkwo can fight alone in order to retain the old traditions before it would be vanished entirely by the British.

AFIQ AZMAN - RELIGIOUS AND SUPERSTITIONS

Religions and superstitions
Karl Marx one commented that "religion is the opium of the people". Do you agree with him? In the case Umuofia, do you think their native religion stunts their development? Is the "new" religion seen as a way of bringing development to Umuofia?

Apart from religion, superstitions play an important part in the Ibo culture. Do you have your own sets of superstitions which you find difficult to discard?

The following points can help you as you write your reflective post on the role of religion and superstition in the novel and in your life:
Analyse how superstitions and religions play in the life described in the novel.

Do superstitious beliefs and religion affect the development of a country? How?

How does one's beliefs affect the nation in terms of politics and culture?

They believe that by being nice to everyone during week of peace will bring good luck for a good crop season. Another superstitions belief is the Evil Forest, for example, if you kill yourself, then your body will be buried in the Evil Forest. This is because they believe all bad spirits live there.

              In my opinion, superstitious beliefs and religion have everything to do with the development of a country. In Malaysia for example, Chinese has a lot of beliefs as well as Indian. All their beliefs are a symbol of unity and various races in Malaysia. For example, the Indians celebrate Thaipussam and pierce their whole body during the festival. This is what make Malaysia interesting, the various races and festive season in it. Other than that, the Chinese belief on not to swipe the house during Chinese New Year. Other races need to respect this and live harmoniously. From the religion aspect, we can see Christianity brings both positive and negative changes in Umuofia. A well managed and efficient law system is construct, schools were build and slavery was demolished. For example, the outcast and isolated people in Umuofia finally being recognised by their society. This shows the development of the country has increased.

              A superstitious belief do affect the nations in terms of politics and culture. For example, if the beliefs brings nothing but misery, it destroy the whole nation. Beliefs such as dumping baby, kills baby girl because they do not worth. This negative superstitious beliefs will affect them emotionally and spiritually which leads to clash of culture. The people will start to practice evil stuff and do not want to compromise with each other. In terms of culture, a good belief will avoid their culture to extinct. For example, KadazanDusun practice bobohizan during the harvest month. The bobohizan is a spiritual leader to call the ancestor or souls to support them to harvest more paddy during that month. Nowadays, it is rarely practice and near to extinction. The KadazanDusun generation to come will never experience such thing anymore in the future. One of the superstitious beliefs that my ancestor taught and I still practice until today is not to whistle at night. This is because it will invite the ghost or any evil spirits.

AFIQ AZMAN - GENDER DIFFERENCES

Based on your reading (gender differences), reflect on how these women are treated in the novel. the following questions can help you as you write your reflective piece:

How are the women treated in the novel? Do all members in the community agree with the status quo? Why?

What contributions are made by the Igbo women to the survival of their culture?

What are the changes in the women's roles in this present world?


In Things Fall Apart, women were treated as possessions of males. They took care of the home, and were not invited to town meetings. Their responsibilities were to their husband and then to their children. They did the cleaning, cooking, and minor farming. The first wife would be in charge of the household, and would be able to direct the other wives as well be the only other person to wear the titles of her husband. For example, in the novel, Okonkwo severely beats his wife for a small problem, not being home during dinner. However, the only reason he gets in trouble is because it is the week of peace. In fact, it is often encouraged that men beat their women for punishment of “wrongdoings”, and the women have no recourse against it. From my point of view, I do think that the community is agreeing with the status quo because they know that they do not have the rights to speak or voice out their opinion at that time.

              An example of contribution that is made by the Igbo women to the survival of their culture is the representation of the earth goddess, Ani. Ani is described as playing "a greater part in the life of the people than any other deity. She was the ultimate judge of morality and conduct. And what more, she was in close communion with the departed fathers of the clan whose bodies had been committed to earth". It seems logical that a society that views its female members as inferior beings would not represent their most powerful deity as being a woman. Ani's power is further illustrated through her role in the yam harvest. It is important that all the members of the clan observe the Week of Peace prior to the harvest in order, "to honor their great goddess of the earth without whose blessing their crops will not grow". For a female spirit to possess such an important role in the success of the yam crops is indicative of the actual deep-rooted power of women. When Okonkwo breaks the Peace of Ani, Ezeani proclaims, "The evil you have one can ruin the whole clan. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall all perish".

              The women’s role in the present world has definitely changed a lot. Women starts to build their own careers and work in big company compared to the old days where women tend to stay at home to become a housewives and take care of their family members. They are also been granted with women’s rights in order to enable them to protect themselves and also has the power to voice out their own opinion.

AFIQ AZMAN - REFLECTION OF THINGS FALL APART

REFLECTION OF THINGS FALL APART

             Based on what I have read in Things Fall Apart, the Igbo culture allows the British to take over through the aspect of openness. They allow the British to come to their land with nothing they do to stop them. Another aspect is they believe so much in their culture beliefs. They think that by letting the British build the church in the Evil Forest, all of them will get rid but they are wrong. Starting from that, the British slowly take over their land. Although I am not from Sarawak but I can see how the colonisation has affected the multiple tribes and culture in Sarawak. Firstly, it is about Christianity. Because of the colonisation by the British, most of the people of the tribes in Sarawak are Christian and I think this religion is the religion of highest number of followers in Sarawak. Not just that aspect, the consequence from the colonisation brings the English language to this land of hornbill. Old folks in this country can speak English fluently than the youngsters nowadays. So here it means that English came first before Bahasa Melayu. They master the English language first before they could master Bahasa Melayu. For this part I think it is a little bit hard. But what I can tell is they are slowly leaving the old culture because of the colonisation and globalisation. We can see that they understand about knowledge and how knowledge can bring them to a better future.

MOHD IRWANDY - RELIGIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS

Religions and superstitions

Karl Marx once commented that 'religion is the opium of the people'. Do you agree with him? In the case of Umuofia, do you think their native religion stunts their development? Is the 'new' religion seen as a way of bringing development to Umuofia?



Apart from religion, superstitions play an important part in the Ibo culture. Do you have your own sets of superstitions which you find difficult to discard?



The following points can help you as you write your reflective post on the role of religion and superstition in the novel and in your life:

• Analyse how superstitions and religions play in the life described in the novel.

• Do superstitious beliefs and religion affect the development of a country? How?

• How does one's beliefs affect the nation in terms of politics and culture?



‘Religion is the opium of the people’ is a quote from Karl Max. In a way, this quote proves to be right but has a huge difference in the reality of religion itself. Opium gets you addicted but also with huge repercussions. Religion gives you satisfaction without the repercussions. Why do I say so? This is because even though people with faith might face with challenges, suffering and other obstacles, these aren’t repercussions but tests. Religion is like the many doors on a floor, with a couple of room reserves for doubt. Doubt is useful because you will not know the strength of your own faith until you are tested. In the case of Things Fall apart by Chinua Achebe, the Umofian native religion does stunt their development. This is because some of the beliefs in their religion are a bit extreme. For example, the sacrificing of twins. This ritual of faith is inappropriate as these twins might someday become useful human resources or better, to be respectable men in the Umofian society. Their religion in a way makes them conservative and does not open to the society outside of their own. The man's way of life by oppressing women is one of the things that also reflects their ignorance against the well-being of their women. If we look closely, the women play a huge role in their society despite being treated the way they are. When the ‘new’ religion came, development all around Umofia spurs. Even though the reluctancy can be seen by some of the men in the Umofian society, but they did not prevent these developments because deep inside, the things that weren’t there at first were the things that they actually needed. The trading system for example. Before the missionaries came, there wasn’t any organized structural economic system. Furthermore, the additional infrastructure that developed by the missionaries eases some of the aspects of life of the Umofian society. Back to religion and superstitious, my own culture doesn’t actually have one or I might not remember it but there is one saying by my culture that shows how beliefs could be harmful towards my own culture. “Biar mati anak, jangan mati adat”, is this saying and it emphasizes more on protecting my own tradition than protecting the people that I love. This is absurd to me because at some point, tradition isn’t the thing that we hold dear, but families are. There is a fine line where we can uphold our tradition but not to the extend that we sacrifice the importance of family ties.

LAHUNG WAN - REFLECTION ON THINGS FALL APART

How are women treated in the novel? Do all members in the community agree with the status quo? What contributions are made by the Igbo women to the survival of their culture? What are the changes in women’s roles in this present world?


Women are considered as the nurtures and the homemakers which also referred as possessions and only there to serve man’s need back in the nomadic civilizations. This view also is portrayed in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe where women are treated unwell and considered as not important as they have no rights to voice out their opinions. For example, in the novel, Okonkwo beaten his second wife Ojiugo when she was not there to serve him dinner. The action that Okonkwo took already proved that women are not treated well. The other evidence is that the custom that assumed birth of twins brings bad luck and must be thrown in the Dark Forest. In this case, the community does not care about the mother’s feelings who already fight for her life to deliver the twins. As we all know, the mother and the babies are interconnected even before they are born. So, the mother must be sad if her twins must be thrown. This proved that the community agreed with the status quo that view women as only a possessions.


The contributions that the Igbo women made to the survival of their culture is that when a person if is exiled, he will go back to his motherland. Going back to his motherland is referred as to find shelter that will always welcome him if other places in this world seem to cast him away. For example, when Okonkwo and his family was exiled for seven years, they went back to Okonkwo’s motherland where they lived with his mother’s family, Uchendu. Based on the case, women also contributed to their culture as the shelter that a man can found if he does not belong anywhere.


Women’s roles also experienced evolution where nowadays, we can see there are more and more women leaders surfaced throughout the world. Women now are not seen as a man’s possessions but as a gender that also can rise like men. Many women now have careers, professional and also act as the motivation for people. For example, Mother Teresa is a good example of successful women where she was known for her contribution in medical care. Other than that, Oprah Winfrey was known as the first and only Afro-multiracial billionaire from 2004 to 2006 even her past life was miserable yet she was able to rise higher than others. these evidences had proved that women’s roles had completely changed where women are not as useless as before. We can conclude that women’s roles nowadays are far more different and they are seen as the individuals that had gone through a lot; child birth, abuse, challenges and all.

MOHD IRWANDY - GENDER DIFFERENCES

Go through your notes on gender differences and other websites dealing with gender studies. Based on your reading, reflect on how these women are treated in the novel. The following questions can help you as you write your reflective piece in your blog:

How are the women treated in the novel? 
Do all members in the community agree with the status quo? Why? 
What contributions are made by the Igbo women to the survival of their culture? 
What are the changes in women’s roles in this present world?

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, women are the second class citizen in the Igbo society. Women are treated as most women in those times are treated: as any how the men pleases to. They are assumed to be inferior than men in the society and were treated with no mercy in doing hard labor. However, only at rare times does a woman get treated a bit nice, that is when the women bear the child that her husband had waited for and only if the offspring were to be of the masculine blood. Surprisingly, the community of the Igbo people themselves somehow agree with this status quo. The women agree maybe because after generations of being treated the way they are, they are institutionalized to accept it. The fact that they are treated the way they are and they let it pass maybe because the generation before them had already said to their daughters to follow their husband orders no matter what they are. Although, treatment for them are different, the women's contribution of the Igbo people towards their culture are numerous. One of which is the women routinely perform the role of priestess. This is shown when the narrator states during Olonkwo’s boyhood, , "the priestess in those days was woman called Chika. She was full of the power of her god, and she was greatly feared" (17). The present priestess is Chielo, "the priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the hill and the Caves" (49). Furthermore, the women also regards as the representation of the earth goddess, Ani by the Igbo people. Ani is described as "a greater part in the life of the people than any other deity. She was the ultimate judge of morality and conduct. Women are also seen in their role as educators of their children. The education is done by them in the form of storytelling. The narrator describes, "Low voices, broken now and again by singing, reached Okonkwo from his wives' huts as each woman and her children told folk stories" (96). Obviously, the role of women changes through time. Other than being the housewife or any other stereotype jobs, women nowadays held quite a high and important position in a company. Now, instead of being the house maker, they become the breadwinner. Their roles expand and differences of their role and their counterparts becomes a blurry line in which that boundary one day will be no more.

LAHUNG WAN - REFLECTION ON THINGS FALL APART

Things Fall Apart which was written by an African writer Chinua Achebe is a good novel for people to read as there are messages, ideas, values and cultures that it conveys to the reader. I have studied the novel and I found that the novel is an excellent work of literature that had been published. In the novel, Okonkwo was the main character or protagonist and he was an Igbo tribe man. The British came to the village and colonize the Igbo people; bringing the new culture, lifestyles and religion to the Igbo villages. The British had influenced the colonized villages in many aspects and the Igbo people are not expected to go against them. During the colonisation, although the Igbo people had shown the British people some rebellions, the people seem to allow some changes to happen to their culture indirectly. For example, after the British people came, the British promise them there will be development made and perhaps school will be provided for them. The Igbo people allow the changes to come in the aspects of their economy because they only depend on growing yams. Sarawak was once colonised by Rajah Brooke and I think the culture are not affected by the colonisation. This is because the cultures that are being practiced from the past are still being practiced now. Colonisation brings changes mainly in the economy of the natives but did not affect the cultures. This is because the people of Sarawak seem to welcome the colonist to rule them. As a whole, we can see that the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak changed a lot in the aspect of economy. This is because the land of the natives perhaps have a lot of resources for commerce and that is what the colonist take advantage of and indirectly change the system of economy of the people from barter or other traditional trading system to something bigger to import and export activity.

DARREL UNCHATT & MOHD IRWANDY & AFIQ AZMAN - REFLECTION ON THINGS FALL APART

Reflection on "Things Fall Apart": Your Thoughts on the Novel: I am sure by now you have completed reading the whole novel "Things Fall Apart". There are issues which you might find troubling. ...

Darrel Unchatt

In your respective blogs, think reflectively of the issues found in the novel. The following questions should help you in your analysis:

Based on your reading of “Things Fall Apart”, what aspects of the Igbo culture allow the British to take over?

The Igbo people were unaware of the outside forces. This is because they were not uniting with each of the tribes. So, it was easy for the coloniser to take advantage on them. Besides that, the Igbo culture is against the Christianity and their mission was to spread the new religion to uncivilised people.

Since Sarawak has also undergone colonisation, how has this affected aspect of culture in our society?

It was almost the same as what happened to the Igbo people in Nigeria but the locals seems to accept James Brooke as the Rajah or the ruler of Sarawak. The colonisation did not affect the locals’ culture because the ruler respected the locals’ culture in order the people’s heart so that they would continue support the Rajah.

Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak?

There are many changes that have been brought to their lives. The first one is the religion. Both of the tribes from Sarawak and Africa were converted to Christianity. From that way, their culture and lives were changed because some of them tended to leave their old culture and focus on the new religion. Secondly, the local people in Sarawak were given the education. Most of the people received the English educations that have been brought by the ruler at that time. 

Mohd Irwandy bin Mohammad Jali

In your respective blogs, think reflectively of the issues found in the novel. The following questions should help you in your analysis:

Based on your reading of “Things Fall Apart”, what aspects of the Igbo culture allow the British to take over?

One of the aspects is the oppression of the Igbo people towards the outcast of their culture. For example, the handful of people who converted to Christianity. These people support the British as they provide a shelter for these outcasts. Also, because of the promise of equal right by the British intrigued most of the Igbo people. The most important aspect is because the Igbo people are not united.

Since Sarawak has also undergone colonisation, how has this affected aspect of culture in our society?

   
      On the upside, much of the generation of that time in Sarawak speak fluent English. Also, the culture of depending only on agriculture changes when the British introduce oil drilling. In addition, multiculturalism steps into another level in Sarawak when Chinese immigrants were brought into Sarawak.

      Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa   and Sarawak?

   
      Yes, they are in fact many changes. First, both become more modernize in their use of technology. Secondly, the administration system changes and revolutionise the existed system. Lastly, the tribes or people are more open to social and academic changes which meant that they are more knowledgeable than before.

    
      Mohammad Afiq bin Azman

In your respective blogs, think reflectively of the issues found in the novel. The following questions should help you in your analysis:

Based on your reading of “Things Fall Apart”, what aspects of the Igbo culture allow the British to take over?

Based on what I have read in Things Fall Apart, the Igbo culture allows the British to take over through the aspect of openness. They allow the British to come to their land with nothing they do to stop them. Another aspect is they believe so much in their culture beliefs. They think that by letting the British build the church in the Evil Forest, all of them will get rid but they are wrong. Starting from that, the British slowly take over their land.

Since Sarawak has also undergone colonisation, how has this affected aspect of culture in our society?

Although I am not from Sarawak but I can see how the colonisation has affected the multiple tribes and culture in Sarawak. Firstly, it is about Christianity. Because of the colonisation by the British, most of the people of the tribes in Sarawak are Christian and I think this religion is the religion of highest number of followers in Sarawak. Not just that aspect, the consequence from the colonisation brings the English language to this land of hornbill. Old folks in this country can speak English fluently than the youngsters nowadays. So here it means that English came first before Bahasa Melayu. They master the English language first before they could master Bahasa Melayu.

Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak?

For this part I think it is a little bit hard. But what I can tell is they are slowly leaving the old culture because of the colonisation and globalisation. We can see that they understand about knowledge and how knowledge can bring them to a better future.