Different Approaches to NATIONAL UNITY: Successes & Limitations

* LARGER THEME OF SEA HIST: LINK TO EARLIER THEMES

POLITICAL STRUCTURES
Threats to POLITICAL unity inability to form stable govts Communism as a threat Military use of threats to justify takeover of power Role of govts : stability vs instability

ECONOMIC CHALLENGES
Unhappines caused by econ policies : lack of equity

RECAP - Theme 2:

CHALLENGES TO NEWLY INDPT STATES

POLTC STRUC
p. democ maximum govts military govts communism

ECON DEVT
reasons for growth 1997 AFC

APPROACHES TO NATIONAL UNITY

Is this NATIONALISM? YES. Theme 1: -ve motivation Theme 2: +ve aspect, nation-building.

DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO NATN UNITY

READINGS{ final set !}

From all over. Some recommendations: Tarling. The Cambridge History of SEA. Vol 2 pt 2. Parts of chp 3 & 5 Snitwongse & Thompson. Ethnic Conflicts in SEA. Ricklefs, Lockhart[edn], A New History of SEA p 401-415

DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO NATN UNITY Fr the A Level Syllabus Document: Achievements vs limitations
SYLLABUS DOCUMENT (a) Different
to create national unity E.g.s: Education, Language, Religion, dominant culture, national symbols & ideologies

Approaches

Reasons:
Legacy of colonialism: artificial constructs
belong t

Multiculturalism;

independent governments attempts to reverse the divisive impacts of colonial rulers divide & rule policy :

Rise of ethnic nationalism and threats of separatist

movements

Assimilation:
.
U Nus cultural natm Thailands cultural natm Suhartos policy towards Chinese

CONCEPT CLARIFICATION
Policies towards the minorities State-directed policy of

Re :syllabus document

Integration,

assimilation

Political representation and autonomous status

State sponsored preservation of minorities

rights Spores multiculturalism Use of discriminatory to achieve equity :

policies and coercion

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE DIFFERENT MODELS?

We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams. Carter, Jimmy

DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO NATN UNITY ACHIEVEMENTS VS LIMITATIONS

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING :

ESSENTIAL QNS :
1.What were the different approaches used by indpt states for promoting national unity. 2.Why did they adopt these approaches to nation bldg. 3. What was the impact on nation building. 4. What were the differences in outcomes betwn different countries.

CONCEPT CLARIFICATION : What is a NATION?

STATE
Defined by physical boundaries : fixed and delineated Has a functioning bureacucracy and instn of state

VS

NATION

CONCEPT CLARIFICATION : What is NATIONALISM?

a nation is a community socially constructed, which is to say imagined by the people who perceive themselves as part of that group
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities
Theme 1 Natm = fight for national sovereignty THEME 2 : Process of natn building after indpc - Links in syllabus

APPROACHES TO NATN UNITY :

SIMILARITIES : Indpt SEA Nations

All embarked on a STATE-BASED NATM to foster natn unity + cohesion
Religion : Shared values : PILLARS OF NATION Nation, King, religion [Thd]

SUCCESS VS FAILURE : dependent on the strength of unifying vs divisive forces

VARYING DEGREES OF SUCCESS

DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO NATN UNITY

CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS

TANGIBLE INTANGIBLE
Sense of imagined community Limitations: Yardstick for measurement?
Issues to consider:

Has there been enough time for unity to develop? THINK: History of the USA. Given that SEA are relatively young NEW nations, is it then fair to judge if they have been successful in buildg natl unity?

SEA: An artificial construct of colonial rule

BRITISH BURMA =
Upper & Lower Burma + Shan States FRENCH INDO-CHINA = Cambodia + Laos+ Vietnam

INDEPENDENT STATE OF SIAM

AMERICANS = Islands of Philippines

BRITISH MALAYA= Malay Peninsula + NW Borneo

DUTCH EAST INDIES = Island zone south of Malaya

COLONIAL PERIOD

PRE-COLONIAL : Indefinite number of political centers No clear geog entities or frontiers

BURMA
COLONIAL LEGACY: 1885: Br created Union of Burma
[concept of nation state]

For adm convnc, included hill tribes/minorities

@ INDPC:

HOW to create a common identity? Different methods according to diff leaders

Aung San

U Nu

Ne Win

BURMA: Rallying cry of Dobama Asiayone Pre-independence: Linguistic Unification

The land of Burma is our land, Burmese writing is our writing, Burmese language is our language Love our land, Promote our writing, Respect our language. - Thahkin B Thang,
- In response to spread of Wn edu

BURMA: u/standing her political geography

Non Burman minorities
[ hill tribes} inhabit Upper border areas. Burmas pop map= ethnographic mosaic Over a 100 languages + dialects

RELIGIOUS TENSIONS

Ethnic Burman/Bamar majority:

NATIONAL UNITY : SOURCES OF TENSION 1. Context variety of ethnic gps 2. State directed policies - Aung San

Higher Order Thinking Skills

H.O.T.S

- U Nu : Burmanisation WEIGH - Military junta : secular but forced Play down opposing assimilation arguments using..

CAUSES

Hierarchy & ranking of importance using APPEARANCE VS REALITY

Prove that one factor is the most important. Weigh evidence & rank them in order of significance. Especially important for x-variable questions.

FUNDAMENTAL FACTOR

CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Time frame: Different time period could create different contexts. For e.g: Post-WWII versus Pre-War conditions. Social/economic/cultural/politica l conditions & circumstances unique to time period, countries, places, political leadership, etc.

LONG/SHORT TERM
Long or Short term analysis matters more? Long term causes may not necessarily be the most important. Need to use this with other analytical tools.

BURMA: Aung Sans Policy towards Hill tribes

Policy twds minorities:

Some success

Panglong Agreement 12 Feb 47

basis of non-Bamar ethnic grps joining Bamar quest for indpc [recap :decolz] Mutual understdg (Panglong spirit) by ethnic grps

BURMA: under Aung San

Policy twds minorities:

Panglong Agreement 12 Feb 47 ended with assassination of Aung San

Political disunity

BURMA : linkages with sub-themes

Sources of disunity/division

HILL TRIBES

BURMA: Under U Nu_Cultural nationalism Method: Cultural Nationalism - BURMANIZATION

Actions taken 1950 Sasana Council Act promotn of Buddhism 1954 Buddhism begun in state schools 1961 Budd estb as state religion (Tarling pg 89) EFFECT Ethnic minorities feared being marginalised Demise of non-Burman ethnic traditions. Chins, Karens (Christians), Kachins: Felt their tradn way of life being threatened Failed to recv sppt fr socialists

BURMA: Under U Nu_Cultural nationalism CONCEPT CLARIFICATION

Use relign & language of politically dominant grp [Burmans-lowland] as a unifying force. Poltc struc based on Buddhism + socialism Policy of BURMANIZATION

BURMA- U Nu : Threat of national disintegration

Arakanese & Mons

agitated for separate states due to U Nus failure to honor (1960) electn promise Set the stage for ethnic reblln over the next 2 decades

Ethnic Leaders: right to self determination

Kayins: first major ethnic group - armed insurrection

Karens little ctrl o/s urban areas Goal of National Unity =

CRITERIA for success?

TANGIBLE
Absence of conflict secessionist mvmts & insurgencies Limitations: may not be indicative of unity undercurrent?

INTANGIBLE
Sense of imagined community Limitations: Yardstick for measurement? Military rule after 1962
Moving on.

U Nu
Cultural Natm

NE WIN POLICY TO ETHNIC INSURGENCIES

Refer to lecture notes on military govt, section under Burmese Way to Socialism

Methds:
Not cultural natm of U Nu , butthe military
had downplayed ethnicity, ignoring when it could - Steinberg

1973 Constn : No state belonged to any ethnic group

Milt campaigns: Forced assimilation

Assess success

BURMA : LANGUAGE POLICIES TOWARDS MINORITIES

What about other means of unification? Recall: Language.
state ctrl of language of all publications Langs such as Karen, Shan and Mon, while allowed to be taught in stds 1 & 2 in home states

BURMA NATIONAL UNITY ASSESS ACHIEVEMENTS VS LIMITATIONS

1989: some incentives i.e. CARROT approach
administer & police own area war exhaustion 2000: 17 insurgent gps (incl Kachin) accepted peace terms BUT Karens & Shans: continued struggle SUCCESS?

BURMA NATIONAL UNITY ASSESS ACHIEVEMENTS VS LIMITATIONS

ACHIEVEMENTS

LIMITATIONS

Aung San : Panglong agreement : short term Military govt : A veneer of unity and stability

BURMA NATIONAL UNITY: Muslim Buddhist divide + Rohinga Crisis

The Rohingya people have In 1978 over 200,000 Rohingyas fled to been described as among the Bangladesh, following the Nagamin worlds least wanted and one (Dragon King) operation of the Myanmar of the worlds most persecuted army. " This military campaign directly minorities. They have been targeted civilians, and resulted in widespread denied Burmese citizenship killings, rape and destruction of mosques since a 1982 citizenship law and further religious persecution. [] was enacted. They are not During 199192 a new wave of over a allowed to travel without official quarter of a million Rohingyas fled to permission, are banned from Bangladesh. They reported widespread owning land. forced labour, as well as summary According to Amnesty executions, torture, and rape. International, the Muslim Rohingyas were forced to work without pay Rohingya people have by the Burmese army on infrastructure and continued to suffer from human economic projects, often under harsh rights violations under the conditions. Many other human rights Burmese junta since 1978, and violations occurred in the context of forced many have fled to neighbouring labour of Rohingya civilians by the security Bangladesh as a result forces.

THAILAND:challenges to National unity

CMST PARTY THAILAND
[Cm lecture]

HILL TRIBES
(similar to Burma pls read up in Snitwongse & Thompson)

CHINESE

Muslim south

NATIONAL UNITY : THAILAND 1. Context not colonised. 2. State directed policies H.O.T.S Higher Order Thinking Skills - Kings as nationalists - Military as nationalists - Policies towards Chinese + WEIGH CAUSES down opposing MuslimPlay south
arguments using..
Prove that one factor is the most important. Weigh evidence & rank them in order of significance. Especially important for x-variable questions.

Hierarchy & ranking of importance using APPEARANCE VS REALITY

FUNDAMENTAL FACTOR

CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Time frame: Different time period could create different contexts. For e.g: Post-WWII versus Pre-War conditions. Social/economic/cultural/politica l conditions & circumstances unique to time period, countries, places, political leadership, etc.

LONG/SHORT TERM
Long or Short term analysis matters more? Long term causes may not necessarily be the most important. Need to use this with other analytical tools.

Different Approaches to NATIONAL UNITY: Successes & Limitations

Burma and Thailand : similarities Burma and Thailand differences Thd : not colonised. Longer time to develop natn consc Ideology of Thai-King-Religion in Thd : role of monarchy as a unifying force +promotion of identity. Thailand : More successes compared to Burma

THAILAND_Cultural nationalism
Like Christianity, Islam is recognised and tolerated as a minority faith, and Buddhism has never been officially imposed as state religion. YET, when the triad of nation, religion and king is invoked, it is clear that the Buddhism is the religion being referred to. Sch textbooks tend to articulate morals and ethics in explicitly Buddhist terms and Muslim children can only learn about Islam in separate religious terms.. At a deeper level, the Muslim minority is also faced with the qn of whether they are really Thai A New History of SEA, p 407 Under Absolute monarchy [ up to 1932] Phibuns cultural natm 1930s + 1940s [ recap last yrs work]

THAILAND Nation building : Unifying forces

Ideology of Nation, King, Religion Started by King Vajirvudh, 1910 Continued by Military [ Sarit] Monarchy [ King Bhumibol] Highly revered + respected Steps in to maintain polc stability [ recap earlier lec]] Buddhism : Bulk of pop Buddhist : unifying force Cultural Natm But : probm in Muslim south

THAILAND : Success _ Chinese

CHINESE BEST assimilated

Chinese assimilation: Success in post war adopted Thai names embraced Buddm.[ common religion facilitated assimilation] become Thai: spoke Thai offered loyalty and obedience to the King Sino-Thai partnerships in econ

 Secessionist acts indpc (Negeri Patani Raya) OR incorporate into Msia (Pattani Darrusalam) 1948 Duson Nyor Revolt: > 1000 Muslims in Narathiwat attacked police 400 Muslims & 30 police dead

SECESSIONIST MOVTM

THAILAND- Divisive forces : The MUSLIM SOUTH

1968 Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO) Reasons :

Thailand : NATIONAL UNITY ASSESS ACHIEVEMENTS VS LIMITATIONS

ACHIEVEMENTS A sense of Thainess in the core of Thailand Monarchy : unifying force Assimilation of the Chinese CPT threat contained
LIMITATIONS Put on your thinking cap and fill this column

Different Approaches to NATIONAL UNITY: Successes & Limitations

Indonesia
Dutch imposed administrative unity on Indonesia 13,000 islands, many sub-races of Indon stock , diff lang, customs, religion BUT DID NOT SUCCEED IN MAKING THEM A SINGLE NATION

DIVERSITY IN INDONESIA
There are over 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia. The largest ethnic group in Indonesia is the Javanese who make up 41% of the total population. The Javanese are concentrated on the island of Java but millions have migrated to other islands throughout the archipelago because of the transmigration program. The Sundanese, Malay, and Madurese are the next largest groups in the country. Many ethnic groups, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua, have only hundreds of members. Most of the local languages belong to Austronesian language family, although a significant number, particularly in Papua, speak Papuan languages. The Chinese Indonesian population makes up a little less than 1% of the total Indonesian population according to the 2000 census.

NATIONAL UNITY : INDONESIA 1. Context diversity 2. State directed policies of - Sukarno

Higher Order Thinking Skills

H.O.T.S

- Suharto

3. Policies towards Chinese WEIGH CAUSES Play down opposing 4. Comparisons arguments using..
Prove that one factor is the most important. Weigh evidence & rank them in order of significance. Especially important for x-variable questions.

Hierarchy & ranking of importance using APPEARANCE VS REALITY

FUNDAMENTAL FACTOR

CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Time frame: Different time period could create different contexts. For e.g: Post-WWII versus Pre-War conditions. Social/economic/cultural/politica l conditions & circumstances unique to time period, countries, places, political leadership, etc.

LONG/SHORT TERM
Long or Short term analysis matters more? Long term causes may not necessarily be the most important. Need to use this with other analytical tools.

INDONESIA
METHOD: Secular approach with common goals

SUKARNOS VS SUHARTOS POLICIES Common feature: PANCASILA National Ideology

Speech by Sukarno on Pancasila, 1945

The Indon people are all human

beings, who according to geopolitics ordained by God Almighty live thruout the entire peninsula of Indon from the northern tip of Indon to Irian Jaya! ...70 m who hv already become one. Our first principle INDONESIAN NATM in its fullest sense is neither Javanese natm nor Sumatran natm 5 principles:

Indonesia
SUKARNO: Negative ways to wield a nation tog Militant natl consciousness agst real & imaginary enemies. 2 confrontations:
1. to recover West New Guinea & 2. against Msia (Confrontation)

SUHARTO:

[CONTEXT: 65-66 MASSACRES]

Projected himself as defender of Indon

Read up for more details in Tarling use the Index for easy reference

Indonesia Divisions: evidence of disunity

SUHARTOS POLICY OF CENTRALISATION - Backlash: Aim: uniformity & conformity Ctrl of central govt at Java Eg: Policy of transmigratn to Kalimantan Dayaks displaced & marginalised by pp fr centre

Indonesia Divisions: evidence of disunity

SEPARATIST REVOLTS lack of national integration, regional commanders unwilling to give up pwr; did not want Javanese rule E.g. 1958: rebellions in Sumatra & Celebes suppressed E.g.:

ACEH SECESSIONIST MVMT

Another e.g.: PAPUA read up!

- Hassan M Tiro, Declaration of Achenese Indpc, 1976

Indonesia: Policy towards the Chinese

Suhartos Policy towards Chinese Context : Econ Context : 1965 failed alleged Cm dominance of Chinese coup , strong sentiment ags Chinese indon [ accused of being Ct collaborators] Chinese strong presence in the economy

ASSIMILATION

1967 : Basic Policy for the Solution of the Chinese Problem

Indonesia: Policy towards the Chinese

1967 : Basic Policy for the Solution of the Chinese Problem
Official BAN on all things Chinese

Ch lang papers banned [ except one], lang schs phased out, learn Bahasa Indon Ch religious expressions restricted to home

Limited success : 1998 Anti-Chinese riots with Suhartos downfall { Ch blamed for econ probm}

Indonesia Overall Verdict

Based strictly on criteria Presence of secessionist & insurgencies disqualifies Indonesia as being successful. BUT Indons have a shared identity to the Pancasila and concepts of gotong royong even if understood in different ways. Sense of overarching national identity difficult to create Compared to Burma

Follow-up : draw comparison links with Thailand

The Philippines
Existing commonalities @ independence
HUKBALAHAP [Cm lecture] MARXIST NPA [Cm lecture]

National approaches

MORO NATIONALIST LIBERATION FRONT [MNLF]

The Philippines: The Moro Secessionist Movt

MNLF Claims for an indpt state :
Common racial origin [IndoMalayan], religion[Islam],orgz govt in form of sultanates, a defined territory 1903 : Muslims made up76% of Mindanao territory

Result :

BUT .NOT purely religious

The Philippines: Response of govt

Assess success : 1968 : dd indpc
1976 : Tripoli Agreemt: some autonomy but not implemented. 1977 : insurrection revived ..but divisions

1981: Moro Islamic Liberation

Front [MILF]founded.

1989 Manila tried to extend

partial autonomy to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao

1996: struck a deal with MNLF.

NATIONAL UNITY : THE SINGAPORE APPROACH

Singapore
METHOD: Non-ideological formula Challenge: a united multi-racial society Dennis Bloodworth: pragmatic approach meritocracy, multi-racialism HOW ?

Singapore: 5 shared values

5 SHARED VALUES

1ST PROPOSED IN 1998 By DPM Goh Chok Tong Aims Blueprint for the devm of a National Ideology shared by all Sculpt a Singaporean identity

COMPARISON TO INDPT SEAsian states :

Singapore
SUCCESS? No racial riots since 1964 (during merger) Races living tog in peace: co-existence ISSUES OF CONCERN : Constant reminders about need for racial harmony Have we moved from TOLERANCE to acceptance and respect ? Is there real understanding btwn races ? Persistence of racial stereotyping and generalisations. State directed policies and success made possible by strong one party leadership

EXTRACT FROM ST ARTICLE

But there is absolutely nothing natural or organic or inevitable about what we have. We

made this; we engineered this; we fashioned this as a potter would clay.

Singapore is a human-made miracle. And like all human-made miracles, it can be shattered by human hands. How might this miracle unravel? Well, I don't think it will, but let's consider the challenges. The Institute of Policy Studies conducted a wide-ranging survey recently on the attitudes of Singaporeans on matters of race and religion. The sample size was 4,000. Here are some of its preliminary findings: The state of our inter-racial, inter-religious relations is reasonably healthy. For example, an overwhelming

70 per cent of Singaporeans agree or agree strongly that a

person's race or religion should have no bearing in hiring decisions.[ reflect on this] A healthy majority - more than 50 per cent - either agree or agree strongly with statements such as "Ifeel comfortable being the only individual of my racial group mixing with people of other racial groups". Adistinct minority - less than 20 per cent - either disagree or disagree strongly with the statement. .[ reflect on this] . And about a third are neutral - they are not exercised one way or another.

The findings indicate we haven't arrived at some multi-cultural nirvana. [ continued next slide..] Writer :Janadas Devan 22/4/2013

EXTRACT FROM ST ARTICLE

On the one hand, the majority of Singaporeans do value our diversity. About 72 per cent, for example,either agree or strongly agree that "it is a good thing for Singapore to be made up of people fromdifferent racial groups". On the other hand, most people do not have close friends of different races.

We still have to juggle pragmatically; we still need laws and institutions to ensure that we do indeed end up choosing the better angels of our nature. There is no reason to believe we will always, invariably,automatically, be angelic. Writer :Janadas Devan 22/4/2013

Use of Singapore as a case study : Some words of advice

Place our success in context Singapore does have the advantage of small size, compared to Indon 13,000 islands , Thd and Burma, where problems of national integration are more difficult bec of sheer physical size. Not tested in a crisis Will the races stand tog? Difficult to gauge success. Reflect on your own / parents attitude to other races ?

Types of Qns
How successful were attempts to establish democracy in the newly-independent states of SEA? [A Level 2007] Assess the view that education was more important than language and religion in helping to create a national identity in newly-independent states. [A Level 2008] Assess the view that the policies of newly-independent states towards minorities have been a major cause of political instability. [A Level 2009] Unifying or divisive forces which ones had a greater impact on Southeast Asian nations efforts to achieve national unity and cohesion in the period 1950 1985? National Unity remained an elusive and difficult goal for independent SEA up to 1997. Discuss.