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.
