Southeast Asian countries have so many differences range from languages, religions, to political systems. But the one thing that they have in common, except for Thailand, is the fact that they were colonized by European powers. While colonialism was mostly bad and resulted in so much damage, it also produced unique socio-cultural aspects across Southeast Asia.
Indonesia and the Netherlands
For about 350 years, the archipelago that’s now known as Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch, started when Cornelis de Houtman landed and made contact with Banten on June 27,1596. What was started as a good relationship on commercial trade mainly for spices, the Dutch started to conquer small kingdoms across the archipelago and refer to the whole region as Dutch East Indies.
There’s a lot of things that are heavily influenced by the long stay of the Dutch in Indonesia. Across the nation, you could easily find so many buildings that were built by the Dutch to help maintaining the region. The Indonesian railway company or KAI are to this day, still using most train stations and railroads that were inherited from the Dutch.
The Dutch also influenced the Indonesian language. While Indonesians still speak their own language, but there are so many Dutch words that are incorporated, slightly changed and then treated as the Indonesian words nowadays. Words such as ‘kulkas’ meaning refrigerator, ‘bengkel’ means auto shop, ‘handuk’ means towel, and ‘kantor’ means office are only a handful of examples of this.
During the Dutch time in Indonesia, there were so many mixed marriages resulted in new generations with both Indonesian and Dutch blood in them. You can see this directly by seeing the players of current Indonesian national team. Most of them are born in the Netherlands, but were able to be naturalized because they have Indonesian bloodlines.
The Philippines and Spain
While the Netherlands have so much control over Indonesian archipelago, another nearby archipelago were also colonized by the Spanish. The name of the country itself is a clear proof of how deep the Spanish influence is in this region. The name ‘Philippines’ is a reference to a Spanish Prince, Philip who would be King Philip II later on. The name was proposed by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, a Spanish explorer who visited the islands in 1542-1546.
Names are also interesting since while the Philippines people are still using their own languages with Tagalog being the most dominant one, but indigenous names are so hard to find since most Filipinos are using Spanish surnames. This happened after in 1849, a Governor-General named Narciso Claveria issued a decree for Filipinos to adopt Spanish surnames. On top of that, they also use Christian names as their first names, indicating the deep Catholic influenced, also by the Spanish.
People of the Philippines are also still doing a lot of Spanish traditions. To name a few, they are practicing the Quinceanera which is a celebration when a girl in the family is turning 15. Siesta, which is an afternoon nap after lunch is also a small habit, introduced by the Spanish is still very common in the Philippines, especially in the rural areas.
Malaysia and the United Kingdom
For 171 years, Malaysia was colonized by the British, from 1786 to 1957. One of the most prominent cultural aspect due to the British colonialism is the language. While Malaysians are still speaking the Malay language, English is their second official languange. English is language that is widely spoken in the settings of higher education and business.
Malaysia’s educational system is also still heavily influenced by the British. English-medium schools can still be found in Malaysia which was intended to serve the colonial’s needs in the past, but now regularly producing an educated elite, significant in shaping the educational framework in Malaysia. The British also introduced standardized examinations and Malaysia has their own British O-levels, called SPM or Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia.
Timor-Leste and Portugal
The Timor island is a very unique case since most of the western part of the island is an Indonesian territory, and the east part is an independent country called Timor Leste. The whole island was claimed by the Portuguese but in 1651, the Dutch invaded Kupang and controlled the western part of the island until finally in 1859, the Dutch and the Portuguese stroke a deal that established a border between the two parts of Timor island. The west belonged to the Dutch, and the east belonged to the Portuguese.
Portuguese roots could be easily heard and seen in Timor-Leste since Portuguese is one of the official languages in this country. Portuguese is spoken in official settings such as law, education and government with the official emblem of Timor-Leste has ‘Republica Democratica de Timor-Leste’ written on it. Alongside Portuguese, a local language called Tetum is also spoken by the locals in their everyday life.
Timor-Leste is also the only country in Southeast Asia with the highest percentage of Catholics with 97% due to the Portuguese influence. The people of Timor-Leste is still celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima which is a special and holy day to commemorate the magical appearance of Mother Mary which was witnessed by three children living near the village of Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
