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.