Assess the extent to which Western education contributed to the origins of pre-war

Southeast Asian nationalism.

In the face of entrenched colonial rule between 1900 and 1942, Southeast Asia
witnessed a rise of nationalistic sentiments among its people, some of which were
instigated by the Western teachings embraced by some elites in the region. While Western
education on its own played a significant role in inspiring nationalism amongst the people
by introducing foreign thoughts and practices, its contribution to the origins of pre-war
Southeast Asian nationalism was even larger when it was in conjunction with other
domestic factors, such as the desire to revitalise traditional religions and cultures and
defend their economic rights, that were in response to the imposition of Western colonial
rule. Nevertheless, as Western education played its hand in the different factors that
provoked nationalist sentiments, this essay seeks to argue that Western education largely
contributed to the origins of pre-war nationalism in Southeast Asia.

Western education instilled foreign nationalistic ideals into the minds of Southeast
Asian traditional elites, inspiring them to seek democracy after the Western model and
utilise their influential status in mobilising masses to spread their nationalistic causes. For
example, the French colonial policy of assimilation created a tiny group of pro-French
Western-educated Vietnamese elites who were keen to co-operate with the French to
advance their nationalist agenda of modernising Vietnam. These moderate Vietnamese
nationalists, led by Phan Chu Trinh and Pham Quynh, aimed to secure French approval for
political reforms to replace the Vietnamese monarchy with a modern republic that
contained both French and Vietnamese elements. These Western-educated elites thus
formed the basis of the Vietnamese struggle for independence through political means,
which would eventually evolve into more radical forms of nationalism. Similarly, the
Perhimpunan Indonesia (Indonesian Association) was established in 1908 as a student
society for Indonesian students studying in the Netherlands. In 1925, it became a political
body which was a fertile source of political ideas and was led by former students who later
became prominent activists such as Mohammad Hatta and Sutan Sjahir. It advocated nonco-operation with the Dutch, and sought popular support across Indonesia (not limited to
Java) to achieve nationalist aspirations, even formulating the national concept of
Indonesia as opposed to Netherlands East Indies and emphasising the need for
political unity and nationalism as the unifying force. The Perhimpunan Indonesia thus
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exemplifies how study groups can set the base of pre-war nationalism in Indonesia. With
the above two examples, Western education is proven to be a key contribution to the
origins of nationalism before World War II as it transplants nationalist ideas into the local
elites.

However, while a significant attributor on its own, contributions by Western

education was enhanced when it coincided with the more localised aims of the Southeast
Asians in concretising nationalism, such as reviving traditional religions and cultures, and
defending economic rights against alien Asians.

Western education bestowed upon the elites the merits of revitalising traditional
religions and cultures, which would eventually transform into political movements that
advocated nationalism with the popular belief in religion and culture as a unifying factor.
For example, the Sarekat Islam was established in 1912 by Dutch educational institute
OSVIA graduate Tjokroaminoto,

and

sought

to

modernise

Islam

and

combat

misunderstanding of the faith. Though initially moderate and distant from politics, the
organisation would then eventually attempt to contest for political representation in its
government to the Dutch in the 1910s. The Dutch would accede and pass the bill to
establish the Volksraad in 1916. This exemplifies early Indonesian nationalism through
cultural enforcement and a transition to politics. Likewise, in 1906, Western-educated
barristers and intellectuals at the University of Rangoon established the Young Mens
Buddhist Association (YMBA), which purely sought to revive Buddhism in Burma and was
a moderate organisation. However, in 1916 the YMBA began to shed its nonconfrontational stance by tackling the issue of foreigners wearing shoes inside Buddhist
pagodas, which would be known as the Footwear Controversy and thus posing a direct
challenge to the British authority and effectively turning a religious matter into a political
one, subsequently politicising nationalism. The transition of the YMBA into politics was
cemented when the organisation evolved into the General Council of Burmese Association
(GCBA), a political group. These examples hence depict how Western education
contributed to another key instigator of Southeast Asian nationalism, traditional religions
and cultures, and hence doubled the effects of both on igniting nationalist sentiments in
pre-war Southeast Asia.

Western education enabled the locals to realise the fallacy of the colonial powers'
so-called civilising mission in Southeast Asia, allowing them to recognise colonial
economic exploitation as such, and hence breed nationalistic sentiments against those
who infringe on their economic rights. For example, the Cochin-Chinese Constitutionalist
Party (1917), which was founded based on Western influence, sought to increase
Vietnamese political representation in the Colonial Council of Cochin-China to address
Vietnamese grievances about the Chinese domination of the Cochin-Chinese economy
and had action taken against it. Similarly, the Sarekat Dagang Islam, predecessor of the
Sarekat Islam, was formed under the leader ship of OSVIA graduate Tirtoadisurjo in 1909,
as a group of Javanese traders who wished to counter control of the Chinese control of the
economy, even organising a boycott against Chinese merchants in an attempt to spread
commercial spirit among the locals. As such, the above two examples show how Western
education played a part in the formation of nationalism that advocated economic rights in
Southeast Asia.

In conclusion, Western education largely contributed to the origins of pre-war

Southeast Asian nationalism. While already invoking a large portion of nationalist
sentiments on its own by fundamentally introducing nationalist ideals to the locals, its
contributions are taken further when it was in conjunction with domestic factors that were
held in high regard by the people, such as traditional religions and cultures and a common
contempt against the alien Asians who infringed on their economy., as it enabled whatever
nationalist feelings the Southeast Asians possessed to be driven to their maximum peaks.
Without Western education, nationalism, though still strong, would not be as enforced as
Western education imparted skills and knowledge to the Southeast Asians to effectively
pursue their nationalist agendas. As such, this essay's stand remains.

Written by: Lee Zhen Yi (12A07)

Date: 8 April 2013

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