Siti Noor Amira binti Mohammad Johari
1) Based on your reading of "Things
Fall Apart",what aspects of the Igbo culture allow the British to take
over?
Based on my understanding, one aspect of Igbo culture that allows the British to take over is when the missionaries try to persuade the Igbo people by using many strategies, and they are easily fall to it. In this novel, we can see missionaries try to convince by giving them the "iron horse" or bicycle and the other is the use of rhythmic singing and clapping to draw attention to their message. These show that their allegiance towards their belief are not totally strong. Besides, one of the villagers that is converted to Christianity is Nwoye, Okonkwo's son. Okonkwo is not satisfied with Nwoye's attitude. He is always complaining about Nwoye who is not possesses manliness as he is. So, Nwoye feels he is not belongs to his father and he also questions himself about the killing of Ikemefuna and the twins. These make Nwoye converts to Christianity which this religion teaches them that everyone is brothers and sisters. Other than that, Igbo people also believe on the Evil Forest is filling with evil spirit which men that kill themselves, ogbanje and twins. Then, when the missionaries come the village, they give the forest for them to build a church. They believe when the missionaries build up a church there, they will be destroyed. Unfortunately, their belief is wrong meanwhile the church makes the British more powerful as they can spread their religion easily.
2) Since Sarawak has also undergone colonisation, how has this affected aspects of culture in our society?
In Sarawak society, there are some aspects from colonisation of British that affected in this culture. One of them is their language which still maintaining the English language. As I know, the older still use English words in their daily communication. Such as, ball is 'bola' but they still call 'bol' and also resident is 'pejabat daerah' and they still call 'residen'. Other than that, in that time majority of Sarawakian are influenced by the attire of British. I can see in the picture of the wedding of my parents's friend is they use coat,necktie,gown,and etc as their wedding attire rather than use traditional dress. This shows how British has influenced them indirectly. Besides, in that time way of life of Malay-Muslim community began to be absorbed by the Western elements. For instance, they built many entertainment center such as Kampung Tanjung Kesenangan Club (1926), Sarawak Malay Tennis
Club (1929), Sinjan Music Club, dan Surabaya Jolly Minstrels (Zulkiple Abdul
Gani & Juanda Jaya, 2003:643).
3) Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak ?
There are many changes that occur in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa such as they are not consulting Agbala when they have problems. They convert to Christianity and this makes Jesus as their god. Besides, I think there is development in their life. They will go through modernisation as the missionaries will help them in developing themselves. It can be seen in the novel, when the Igbo people don't know the bicycle but they call it 'iron horse'. When the missionaries come, they will modernised the people there. Other than that, they also will believe that everyone is the same. There is no more rank among them.
Meanwhile in Sarawak, there are many changes that we can notice here. When there is a colonisation in a country,it makes the country starts to be strong to fight for their right. They will arise to protect their own land and not only see it taken by other parties. Thus,this spirit makes them stronger and good enough to fight on. Besides, the colonisation also makes them to be thrived in the technology as well as highly moral standard. When the colonisation takes place, they will introduce new technology and as they go back to their own country, they will leave the knowledge to residents. So, in indirectly we can go through modernisation by their help. So, we can see from this aspect, not all colonisation will cause bad effects but they also give us some advantages.
Club (1929), Sinjan Music Club, dan Surabaya Jolly Minstrels (Zulkiple Abdul
Gani & Juanda Jaya, 2003:643).
3) Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak ?
There are many changes that occur in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa such as they are not consulting Agbala when they have problems. They convert to Christianity and this makes Jesus as their god. Besides, I think there is development in their life. They will go through modernisation as the missionaries will help them in developing themselves. It can be seen in the novel, when the Igbo people don't know the bicycle but they call it 'iron horse'. When the missionaries come, they will modernised the people there. Other than that, they also will believe that everyone is the same. There is no more rank among them.
Meanwhile in Sarawak, there are many changes that we can notice here. When there is a colonisation in a country,it makes the country starts to be strong to fight for their right. They will arise to protect their own land and not only see it taken by other parties. Thus,this spirit makes them stronger and good enough to fight on. Besides, the colonisation also makes them to be thrived in the technology as well as highly moral standard. When the colonisation takes place, they will introduce new technology and as they go back to their own country, they will leave the knowledge to residents. So, in indirectly we can go through modernisation by their help. So, we can see from this aspect, not all colonisation will cause bad effects but they also give us some advantages.
