People's History of Southeast Asia - Essay Example

 People’s History of South Asia Introduction Southeast Asia is a region of Asia that comprises countries including South of China, north of Australia, west of New Guinea and east of India. The two major regions of Southeast Asia are Mainland Southeast Asia and the Maritime Southeast Asia. The other name for Mainland Southeast Asia is Indochina, which comprises of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma and Laos. Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia are constituent regions of Maritime Southeast Asia.1 The major religions of Southeast Asia are Buddhism and Islam, and some Christianity, Hinduism and animist-influenced practices. All countries of Southeast Asia except East Timor are member countries to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The whole region of Southeast Asia covers an area of approximately four million and five hundred square kilometers.2 Educational development, nationalism and revolution have been the critical agendas in Southeast Asia since 1870s. Political leaders and intellectual personalities dedicated to education, nationalism, and revolution have always initiated strategic efforts to achieve the objectives associated with these elements. Education Development in Southeast Asia Every generation transmitted its stock of values, skills methods, and traditions from one generation to another since the beginning of human existence. The systematic provision of learning began to develop approximately two hundred years ago. The growth of schools for children increased over time due to initiatives of the priests, bureaucrats and specialists. The religious leaders headed schools and were responsible for moral and intellectual growth of children. The early history of Southeast Asia picked up as an aspect of seminal writings that occurred at religious centres. The eagerness of the rulers and elites to absorb influences and ideas from the international arena accelerated the quest for education in the region. The earliest traces of teaching and learning in Southeast Asia are found in Hindu and Buddhist instruction manuals, development of Monastic cultures across Asia and trails that were left by circulation of scholars.3 These indicators are believed to have contributed to the lodgment of successive world religions and their traditions of high learning in the region’s cosmologies. Transnational networks and interactions led to the emergence of educational entrepreneurs. The role of educational entrepreneurs was to draw on financial resources and international networks to put up reformist schools of Islam and printing presses. Prior to 1920s, the accumulated wealth of Southeast Asia countries was used to erect educational projects such as schools and printing presses with an objective enhancing educational development. The South Indian Muslims, Tamil Social Reformers and jobbing Theosophists recognized scientific development as a critical force behind societal development.4 The countries devised patterns of regional migration with the hope that these individuals will return home equipped with new wealth of knowledge and skills. An example of this group was the Minangkabau of West Sumatra who mainly believed in matrilineal traditions. People were considered to belong to the same decent groups as their mothers. The educated people chose to be teachers, whether in colonial schools, Jawi while others volunteered to work as teachers in Mecca and Medina. The region was largely characterized by an educational cosmopolitan, which lay at the heart of its later educational experiences. The systems of learning in Southeast Asia permeated down to local levels. The communists exploited the village-level Confucian scholar during the mid-20th century revolution. Jean deLanessan, the French traveler, wrote in the year 1895 that even the peasants could read and write. This writing was one of the elements of Orientalist romanticism in action. Jean deLanessan studied the overt behavior of the region during his tour in Southeast Asia. He realized that peasants had the same mental capacities and capabilities to read, and if they were exposed to some form of formal training. The only challenge in the region was that people did not have adequate access to academic knowledge. Jean deLanessan’s writings enlightened the natives about the necessity of revisiting their attitudes towards education and design proper intervention strategies for educational prosperity. One of the initiators and supporters of education in Southeast Asia was Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese revolutionary leader and occupied the offices of the prime minister and president during his time. Ho Chi Minh was born on May 19, 1890 and died on September 5, 1969. He became the prime minister in the year 1945 and was the president between 1945 and 1969 before voluntary resignation because ill health5. Ho Chi Minh was the key founder of both the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and People’s Army of Vietnam. Ho organized Youth Education Classes and offered occasional socialist lectures to the Vietnamese revolutionary youth. While he was the prime minister, Ho asserted that the communists could teach 90 percent of the illiterates to read and write adequately within three months. The geographies of political power shifted and led to local educational networks. The richer monasteries and ambitious scholars were found near courtly centres; however, sometimes they could be left behind as political authority moved to other places. The most vibrant centers of learning in the Malay world were located in local sultanates. Distinctive pedagogical traditions that developed in the 18th century have persisted into the present era. The most adaptive traditions include the Pandok and pesantren. The pandok is a tradition of the Malay Peninsula while pesantren is found in Java. These traditions embraced village-based schooling that led to the emergence of a wide range of institutions. Some of these institutions were very small and based on rote learning of the Arabic Quran. Other village-based schools began to embrace additional subjects in the beginning of the 19th century.6 This initiative spread to Straits Settlements and the trading towns of Java, which began to benefit from the contributions of foreign Muslims. It was approximated that there were fifteen thousand pesantren in Java and Madura by the year 1885 with two hundred and thirty students. The French forcibly colonized Vietnam and the entire Indochina. Vietnam’s traditional Confucian-oriented education was replaced by the French-Vietnamese education. This education was primarily meant to train people to serve the interests of the colonialists. The French colonialists wanted laborers for their farms and messengers for their offices. They wanted to employ people with some skills and knowledge in order to be able to deal with them. The system of education was structured in such a way that the natives would not access quality education. The Vietnamese schools increased to two thousand, three hundred and twenty-two during the French Invasion in Vietnam. There was an average of one elementary school in every three villages. The proportion of students from the village accounted for only 2 percent of the children from the village attending these local primary schools.7 The number of colleges was sixteen with only 0.05 percent of the population comprising of the natives. The whole of the French colony had three universities with the Faculties Of Sciences, Law, Medicine, and Pharmacy. These Universities were located in Hanoi and comprised of eight hundred and thirty-four students; six hundred and twenty-eight of this was Vietnamese. French was the dominant language under the French-Vietnamese education system. French was also the language of instruction in higher institutions of learning. During the prevalence of this system, 95 percent of the Vietnamese were illiterate. This is because most of the natives did not understand French while others were not ready to be assimilated to French. Vietnam was declared independent after the departure of the French colonialists. President Ho Chi Minh identified fighting against poverty, invaders and illiteracy as critical tasks of the independent Vietnamese government. According to the president, these three elements interacted to intertwine the community in a myriad of challenges, and the way to liberation would be difficult to find. The president sent an open letter to students during the opening of school year 1945-1946.8 The letter was sent on December 6, 1945 to confirm the birth of a new education system with the permission of preserving independence and rehabilitating the country. The primary objective of the president was to remind students that the country has officially gained independence, and the education systems would be adjusted to suiting the needs of the natives. The citizens who had feared by the strict rules of the French education system had the opportunity to reregister in various educational institutions and acquire knowledge and skills vital for the development of individuals and the nation. Ho came up with the philosophy that an illiterate nation is powerless. The government, under Ho’s leadership issued a Decree No. 17-SL on December 8, 1945.9 The content of the decree stressed on the significance of everyone being literate, everyone in this country must be literate. Another legal document, Decree No. 19-SL provided for literacy classes for farmers and workers to attend at night. Decree No. 20-SL provided for free teaching of the national language to all citizens, as the plans for implementing free primary education were underway. President Ho Minh issued “The Call for Anti-illiteracy” campaign on 3rd October 1945. The government responded to the president’s call within one year by beginning seventy-five thousand literacy classes equipped with more than ninety-six thousand teachers. The objective of this mass investment was to help the people of Vietnam to eradicate illiteracy in the country. Improvement of learning qualifications was made a national policy with the establishment of a democratic republic. President Ho stressed that all people should have the knowledge of reading, writing and calculating since these were the criteria for establishing people’s educational achievement. Commitments to improving people’s learning qualifications and eradicating illiteracy led to Vietnam’s response to the World EFA Declaration in the year 1990. The president of Vietnam adopted the Jomtien Action Plan and established further commitments to the achievements of Dakar goals. Vietnam established legal frameworks for its educational policies by issuing two additional decrees: Decree No. 146-SL and Decree No. 147-SL.10 These two decrees were issued in 1946 to fight against the war plans of the French colonialists. Ho was devoted to the establishment of education systems built on the fundamental principles of popularity, nationality and scientific, which were expected to serve the national ideals of the country and maintain its democracy. The Vietnamese president identified the significance of making basic education compulsory beginning the year 1950. All children aged between seven and thirteen years attended schools free of charge. Failing to attend schooling for children was illegal and punishable under the law. Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie showed a great interest in education development. Habibie was the third president of Indonesia between 1998 and 1999.11 Habibie held the office of the State Minister for Research and Technology. During this time, Habibie created three programs that were crucial for educational development.12 The first program was Overseas Fellowship Program (OFP). The objective of Overseas Fellowship Program was to link the Indonesia students with other international students during exchange programs. The second program was Science and Manpower Development Program (SMDP). This program was meant to provide vocational training to students and graduates to ensure that they are updated with the requirements of the workplace. Habbie’s third program was Science and Technology for Industrial Development (STAID). The primary focus of this program was to implement the latest technological advancements in learning institutions and keep students abreast of the technology. The three programs also offered scholarships to students who wanted to continue with their master’s or doctorate degrees in Japan, Europe and the United States of America. Growth of Nationalism and Revolution in Southeast Asia Nationalism refers to political ideologies, creeds or beliefs trough which people identify themselves with their nations. Nationalism reflects on the way the ancient people organized themselves into groupings based on their affinity of birth. In modern times, nationalism involves the conditions required for the modern society to exist. The adoption of national identity in the historical development has always resulted in dissatisfaction among influential groups due to inconsistencies between the defined social orders and experiences that nationalists wanted to resolve.13 The symbols of national identity include the flag and the national anthem, which are the critical symbols for national unity. The countries of Southeast Asia underwent various stages of nationalism during pre-independence and post-independence periods. The leaders were interested in bringing democracy and literacy to support the process if nationalism.14 Revolution refers to fundamental change in power or organizational structures. Revolution takes place in a relatively shorter time compared to nationalism. The concept of revolution can be described as a complete change from one constitution to another or modification of an existing constitution to meet the needs and demands of the people. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that people have the constitution that defines their rights and freedoms, and amends the available constitution to ensure that it correspond to people’s needs and desires.15 Revolution results in major changes in cultural beliefs, economic status and social-political institutions. People find in necessary to appreciate adjustments in their customs and beliefs in order to pave the way for revolution. The government also responds by creating proper structures that can support the indented revolutionaries. Economic status of the citizens improves since the revolutionary government allows people to access the critical resources required to satisfy their needs and desires. The major colonizers of south-East Asia were the United States, Europeans and Japanese. There were seven colonial powers in Southeast Asia. This included Japan, Netherlands, France, Portugal, United States, Spain and Great Britain. The colonialists had economic relations with the natives and their political and cultural domination over the people and territories of Southeast Asia. Colonial experience accelerated the rate of the rise of anti-colonial and anti-Japanese aggression due to a nationalist fervor. These anti-colonialist nationalists were the cause of the rise of independence movements. The elites of Southeast Asia responded to western colonialism in a continuum, which involved adaptation, collaboration and eventual colonial resistance. The initial failure of the traditional elites encouraged most Filipino intellectuals to identify themselves with the colonial Spain and United States. The rise of modernity of the late colonial era led to acquisition of technical accomplishments by the Asians. The acquisition of technical knowledge and skill is believed to have been through the initiative of Southeast Asians.16 People realized that they had potentialities in achieving technological advancements and rallied the same across the states. Technical improvisations that were made under the indirect rule led to increased scope of investment in both formal and non-formal sectors of education. Abudul Majid, a producer of primers and a prolific translator, stated that the cottage industries that were used for language training and translation of languages in Southeast Asia were the primary drivers of national cohesion. The elite believed the most oppressive political colonial systems provided niches for people to hide and fend for themselves.. The beginning of the 20th century saw several religious and cultural movements being formed with the emphasis on national unity. For example, the Young Man’s Buddhist Association in Burma that was set up in 1906 had an objective of eliminating the western influence. The Sarekat Islam of Indonesia was a formed in 1912 with the aim of bringing Moslem Indonesians under its reformist agenda.17 Intellectual elites created political movements that were structured in the styles and ideologies of the Westerners. These movements, thus, drew inspirations from the models and ideologies of the West. Most of the movements were headed the sons of the bureaucratic elites. The Dutch-educated Indonesians joined and formed the Indonesian Nationalist Party in the year 1927.18 Vietnam was the only country with the nationalist movement in Indochina at the time. Several community leaders and parties in most parts of the region actively devoted their time and resources towards nationalism and revolution of Southeast Asia. These were active in Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, and Malaysia. There was rapid emergence of new economic, political and administrative elites and led to stiff competition between modernization and tradition. Communist leaders created more national identities drawing upon traditional symbols and western systems. Sukarno and Ho Chi Minh were among the charismatic leaders who accelerated the process of nationalism and evolution. Sukarno was the first president of Indonesia between 1945 and 1967. Sukarno led the country’s struggle for independence from The Netherlands. He was the leader of the Indonesia’s nationality movement that was dedicated to nationalism and revolution of his country. Most of Sukarno’s life spent under the Dutch detention before he was released by invading Japanese forces. The Indonesian nationalists collaborated with Sukarno in their war efforts to stop the Japanese colonialism. The Japanese surrendered in August 1945.19 Mohammad Hatta and Sukarno declared the independence of Indonesia on August 17, 1945 with Sukarno the first president.20 Sukarno joined other nationalists when he was a student in Bandung. He developed his political ideology of socialist self-sufficiency. Sukarno organized a study club for Indonesian students to oppose the established clubs that were dominated by Dutch students. Sukarno collaborated with other friends to form a pro-independence party of which he was elected the first leader. The challenge that the organization faced was disruption of Sukarno’s meetings by the secret Dutch police. Sukarno was sentenced to four years in prison in December 1930, but he was released on December 31, 1931.21 Sukarno presented his five principles known as pancasila, which he shared with Indonesians. These included nationalism, internationalization, democracy, social justice and belief in God. Sukarno declared the independence of the Republic of Indonesia and stuck to his political philosophy constituting Marxism, nationalism and democracy. Ho Chi Minh was the primary force behind the spirit of revolution in Vietnam. Ho led the Vietnamese to independence and fought for freedom since it was what he always desired. The crackdown of communist activities in China forced Ho Chi Minh to leave the country in 1927. This was not the end for Ho because he returned to the region in mid 1930 and formed the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP).22 The Whampoa military Academy was set up under Ho’s initiative to train the people on guerrilla techniques. The followers at the Academy were trained to perform suicide missions. They devised one way of angering the French authorities: striking mines, schools and plantations of the Vietnamese. Ho acted as Comintern representative and stayed in Hong Kong. Ho released the plans for his party in 1930. The plans included withdrawing the French government and set Indo-china free from colonialism. Other plans for Indo-china were to establish a group of government workers, to restore freedoms of speech and press expression, to prevent taxation on unwanted commodities, to maintain the eight-hour working day and to provide education for all. Ho was arrested in June 1931 during a crackdown on political revolutionaries. He was released in 1932 and went to the Soviet Union where he spent several years with his relatives. Determined to accomplish his mission, Ho returned to China in the year 1938. He served as an advisor to Chinese Communist Red Army between 1939 and 1945 during the Second World War. Following the Japanese arrival in Indochina, Ho resumed contact with the ICP leaders. Ho returned to Vietnam the first in 1941 after the duration of thirty years. He met with other communists to discuss on the new strategies to free Vietnam. Ho suggested to form a new group under the name Vietminh to help in fighting for Vietnam’s independence. Ho later changed his name to Ho Chi Minh (He Who Enlightens).23 The Chinese arrested Ho was arrested in 1941 and accused him of a spy aiding France. Chang Fa-Kweli offered to free Ho after releasing the copies of reports on Japan and France. China promised to supply $10,000 per month to Vietminh to support its battles against Japan. Japan surrendered in December 1945.24 Bao Dai allowed Vietminh to assume power and Ho Chi Minh became the Supreme Political Advisor. Ho Chi Minh officially declared the Democratic Republic of Vietnum (DRV) in the company of Mohammad Hatta. Conclusion The systematic provision of learning began to develop approximately two hundred years ago under the lead of the priests, bureaucrats and specialists. The earliest traces of teaching and learning in Southeast Asia were found in Hindu and Buddhist instruction manuals, development of Monastic cultures across Asia and the trails left by circulation of scholars. The accumulated wealth of Southeast Asia countries was used to erect educational projects such as schools and printing presses with an objective enhancing educational development before 1920s.25 One of the initiators and supporters of education was Ho Chi Minh. Ho was a revolutionary leader, Prime Minister, and president during his time. Ho also contributed greatly to nationalism and revolution in Southeast Asia. The French forcibly colonized Vietnam and the entire Indochina, and replaced the Confucian-oriented education with French-Vietnamese education. Vietnam was declared independent after the departure of the French colonialists. President Ho Chi Minh identified fighting against poverty, invaders and illiteracy as critical tasks of the independent Vietnamese government. Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, the Indonesian president between 1998 and 1999, showed a remarkable interest in education development. Habbie came up with programs also provided scholarships to students who wanted to continue with their master’s or doctorate degrees in Japan, Europe and the United States of America. Several religious and cultural movements were formed in the beginning of the 20th with the emphasis on national unity. Sukarno and Ho Chi Minh were among the charismatic leaders who actively led the process of nationalism and evolution. Sukarno declared the independence of the Republic of Indonesia and remained focused to his political philosophy constituting Marxism, nationalism and democracy. The Japanese surrendered in December 1945, and Ho Chi Minh officially declared the Democtartic Republic of Vietnum (DRV). Bibliography Elias, Juanita. "Gendered political economy and the politics of migrant worker rights: the view from South-East Asia". 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