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.