Assess the extent to which Western education contributed to the origins of

pre-war Southeast Asian nationalism.

Western education refers to the education of a group of elites in various
Southeast Asian nations in the Western countries themselves. These elites were
termed as Western-educated elites and also included those who received
Western education locally. Despite them being a tiny group of people that
seemed unfamiliar with the masses, they were able to stimulate nationalistic
sentiments by overcoming traditional distinctions, exposing the fallacy of the
colonial powers so-called civilizing mission and also tapping on popular
discontent. Hence, this essay seeks to argue that Western education did
contribute largely to the origins of pre-war Southeast Asian nationalism.
Western education did play a part in contributing to the origins of prewar Southeast Asian nationalism as it allowed Western-educated elites to look
beyond the traditional geographical, ethnic and religious boundaries to establish
modern nationalists movements that were able to encompass huge masses of the
population. For example, this can be seen in the case of Dobama Asiayone, which
was set up in 1935 by the Thakins who were the Western-educated elites of
Burma and with the support of the pongyis. It sought unity among the Burmese
and was able to have the backing of pongyis and thus the support of huge rural
masses. Dobama Asiayone established the concept of one literature, one
language and one nation. Thus, unlike its predecessors which were only focused
on religious or political aims, Dobama Asiayone was an example whereby it was
able to establish nationalistic sentiments amongst huge masses of the population
due to it being able to overcome such traditional distinctions. Similarly, in
Indonesia, the Perhimpunan Indonesia sought political unity. Furthermore, like
Dobama Asiayone, Perhimpunan Indonesia formulated the concept of one
Indonesia as an all-encompassing nation-state. Thus, this goes to show that
Western education did play a role in contributing to the origins of the of pre-war
Southeast Asian nationalism as it allowed Western educated elites to stimulate
nationalistic sentiments among huge masses who were, for once, not defined by
traditional distinctions.
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Furthermore, Western education did also contribute to the origins of

Southeast Asian nationalism as it allowed Western educated elites to expose the
fallacy of the civilising mission that the colonial powers promised. They realised
that the colonial powers were not living up to the ideals of colonialism and were
exploiting them instead. Hence, this undermined the basis of colonialism and
thus led to the radicalisation of the early nationalists. This can be seen in the
disillusionment of Phan Chu Trinh in Vietnam. He realised that the French were
more suppressive and were exploiting the people. Hence, he opened up Dong
Kinh Free School in 1907 and instigated the start of the anti-colonial sentiments
by leading a tax revolt against the French. Furthermore; this can also be seen in
the establishment of the Volksraad in 1918 in Indonesia. After World War 1, the
Dutch granted Indonesia concessions for more political representation in the
colony. However, the Western-educated elites soon realised that it was only a
token gesture as they could only give advice to the Dutch governor general.
Furthermore, the Dutch themselves appointed the members to the Volksraad.
Hence, it was not a true representation of the Indonesian opinions and also not a
true parliament. The unwillingness of the Dutch to make amendments to such a
rule disappointed many and thus led to the radicalisation of the nationalist
movements. Hence, this showed that Western education did contribute to the
origins of pre-war Southeast Asian nationalism as it caused the Westerneducated elites to realise the flaws of colonialism and stimulate the start of
nationalist movements.
However, Western education can be deemed to be limited as it is only
subjected to a small group of elites. Hence, the Western-educated elites had to
tap on popular discontent such as economic domination of foreign workers and
alien Asians in order to stimulate further dissatisfaction and transform anticolonialist sentiments into nationalistic sentiments.
The prominent alien Asians and the dominance of foreign immigrants in
the economies of various Southeast Asian countries led to the increased
resentment and anger amongst the Southeast Asian countries, and the Western
educated elites were able to tap on such popular discontent to stimulate
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nationalistic sentiments. For example, this can be seen in Vietnam, where the
Cochin-Chinese Constitutionalist Party was set up in 1917 to demand for more
political representation, partly to try and address grievances against Chinese
dominance in the Cochin-Chinese economy. Similarly, this can be seen in the
Indian problem in Burma. The unrestricted immigration of Indians led to the
dominance of Indians working as civil servants in the lower levels of the
Burmese bureaucracy and also as moneylenders. This led to the increased
resentment against the Indians and the consequent assertion of local Burmese
identity against these foreigners. However, the unwillingness of the colonial
powers to address the issue led to widespread anger, which eventually
transformed to nationalistic sentiments, much of it credited to the leadership
roles of the Western educated elites.
Furthermore, this can also be seen through the undermining of the
cultures and religions of various Southeast Asian countries under colonial rule.
This led to the Southeast Asians discontent and anger, which led to the rise of
nationalistic sentiments. For example, the Young Mens Buddhist Association
(YMBA) in Burma was established in 1906. It consisted of the Western educated
elites. During the Footwear Controversy during 1916 to 1918, they pushed for
foreigners to take off their shoes when entering the pagodas, as the Burmese
were unhappy with foreigners wearing shoes inside the pagodas. Hence, this
eventually led to the colonial powers to enforce a rule that foreigners were not
allowed to wear shoes inside the pagoda. This success led to the politicisation of
YMBA and its transformation to a political organisation, General Council of
Burmese Association (1920). Similarly, in Vietnam, Cao Dai and Hao Hao were
popular religions stated by anti-communist monarchical nationalists in response
to the French means of trying to convert Vietnamese in Cochin-China into Roman
Catholicism. Thus, this showed that due to such popular discontent about the
colonial powers undermining the cultures and religions of various Southeast
Asian countries, the Western-educated elites were able to tap on such popular
discontent and stimulate nationalistic sentiments.

In conclusion, it can be said that it was largely due to the Westerneducated elites that contributed to the origins of pre-war South-east Asian
nationalism as though these elites only consisted of a small group, they were able
to establish nationalistic sentiments amongst broad masses through their means
of overcoming traditional distinctions and tapping on the popular discontent.

Written by: Soh Wei Xuan (12A05)

Date: 9 April 2013
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