Republic of the Philippines

COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION

Higher Education Regional Office VI (HERO VI)
City Government of Bago
BAGO CITY COLLEGE
Rafael Salas Drive, Brgy. Balingasag, Bago City, Negros Occidental 6101
Tel: [034] 4611-363 | Fax: [034] 4610-546 | E-mail: bagocitycollege@yahoo.com.ph
 Republic of the Philippines
COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Higher Education Regional Office VI (HERO VI)
City Government of Bago
BAGO CITY COLLEGE
Rafael Salas Drive, Brgy. Balingasag, Bago City, Negros Occidental 6101
Tel: [034] 4611-363 | Fax: [034] 4610-546 | E-mail: bagocitycollege@yahoo.com.ph

Colonial Period in Island Southeast Asia

Intended Learning Outcome: At the end of this module, the student must have:
1. Recognized concepts and events happened during colonial period through image analysis.
2. Identified the colonizers through unscrambling the given words.
3. Identified the reasons for colonialism through picture analysis.

A. Introduction
The major colonizers of Southeast Asia were Europeans, Japanese and the U.S. All in all, there were
seven colonial powers in Southeast Asia: Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, the United
States, and Japan.  From the 1500s to the mid-1940s, colonialism was imposed over Southeast Asia. 
For hundreds of years, Southeast Asian kingdoms had been engaged in international commercial
relations with traders from East Asia (China), South Asia (India), and West Asia (the “Middle East”).  Asian
sojourners also brought religion, customs, traditions, and court practices to the region. Hence, their relationship
was economic and cultural at the same time. Moreover, local Southeast Asian rulers used and indigenized
practices of kingship institutions from South Asia and West Asia
European travelers did not only have economic relations with Southeast Asians but also imposed their
political and in some cases, cultural domination over Southeast Asian peoples and territories. Hence, European
colonialism covered a large chunk of Southeast Asian history.
This module will present colonialism in the Island Southeast Asia setting.
B. Activities
IMAGE ANALYSIS. Scan and analyse the picture carefully. Answer the following questions based on the
picture below. Write your answer on the space provided.

Guided Questions.
1. What do you think is the picture all about?
__The picture shows how superior empires extended their borders and established new colonies that
drew on the physical and population resources they conquered and exploiting it in order to increase their
power . Likewise, people were experiencing forced labourand being
mistreated.________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______
2. Who are the people involved in the picture?
__Colonizers_from the superior empires and the powerless people of the country they
colonized._________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
3. How do they treated people in this period?
_Ferocious punishments were common during this period , which includes whipping and even death for
the people who hold out against colonial
government._______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________
4. How do you describe the activities performed by the workers in the picture?
_People were forced to work and built for the empire. Working like slaves day to night and get punished
when resting.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What can you say about the difference in status relation of the subjects in the picture?
People differs greatly in terms of their daily lifestyle. There we're people who works up into slavery.
Peole in wealthy gentry class. And then the
tradesmen.________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________
6. Do you think this is the period of colonialism? Why?
_Yes, because somehow the empires have established new colonies on the powerless country they
conquered. Likewise, by some means people were getting punish when they hold out against the
government; experiencing forced labour and being mistreated.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Therefore: Describe Colonialism

Colonialism is practice of domination I terms of political, economic, social; and cultural aspects over people
by a foreign power for an extended period of
time._____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_____

C. Analysis
Read the paragraph below regarding contents during the colonial period era.
Colonialism is defined as “control by one power over a dependent area or people.” It occurs when one
nation subjugates another, conquering its population and exploiting it, often while forcing its own language and
cultural values upon its people.
Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei were under the control of the British meanwhile Indonesia was
colonized mainly by the Dutch. On the other hand, Spain is the colonizer of the Philippines.
 Brunei became a British protectorate in 1888, and in 1906 administration was vested in a British
resident, whose advice the sultan was bound to accept. Despite the presence of a foreign administration,
Brunei’s significance began to revive with the start of petroleum production in 1929. In 1941–45, during World
War II, Brunei was occupied by the Japanese. The British returned after the war, and negotiations began for the
eventual independence of Brunei.
The British presence in Malaysia reflected several patterns: direct colonial rule in the Straits
Settlements, relatively indirect control in some of the peninsula’s east-coast sultanates, and family or corporate
control in Borneo. British rule brought profound changes, transforming the various states socially and
economically. British policies promoted the planting of pepper, gambier (a plant producing a resin used for
tanning and dyeing), tobacco, oil palm, and especially rubber, which along with tin became the region’s major
exports.
Singapore’s trade had suffered after 1842 from British development of a rival port, Hong Kong, as later
it was to suffer from the French occupation of mainland Southeast Asia and their development of Saigon. The
demand of the industrial West for tin and rubber was what made Singapore one of the greatest ports in the
world.
The Dutch colonized Indonesia, representing a new type of power in the region: it formed a single
organization, traded across a vast area, possessed superior military force, and, in time, employed a bureaucracy
of servants to look after its concerns in the East Indies. In sum, it could impose its will upon other rulers and
force them to accept its trading conditions. To implement its commercial monopoly, the VOC established
company factories for the collection of produce, pressured individual rulers to do business solely with the
company, controlled the sources of supply of particular products (clove production, for example, was limited to
Ambon, nutmeg and mace to the Banda Islands), and, in the 18th century, pushed through a system of forced
deliveries and contingencies.
The Spanish first arrived in the Philippines in 1521, but did not gain control for several decades. They
met ineffectual opposition, and soon entrenched themselves as lords of great estates worked by the
Filipinos. The friars who accompanied them rapidly converted the population, building churches, schools,
roads, and bridges, while accumulating vast land holdings for the Catholic Church. Centuries later, Spain was
defeated by Americans thus the Philippines were ceded to the USA. Then World War II saw the Japanese
invade, and a brutal conflict ensued. Independence was finally achieved in 1946

Answer the task below based on the contents provided.

TASK 1. Unscrambled the letters to unlock the major colonizers in Island Southeast Asia
Scrambled Word Unscrambled Word Hint
BSIHRIT British Colonized Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei
IDARASPNS Spaniards Colonized Philippines
TDCUH Dutch Colonized Indonesia

TASK 2. The following pictures shows the reasons of colonialism in Island Southeast Asia.
Identify them by filling out the missing letters. Use the images as clues.

1. GOLD 2. ALLAH 3. GOD

TASK 3. During the colonial period, colonizers imposed rules of forced plantation of products to
its colony. Categorize the following products to corresponding colonizer.
BRITISH DUTCH
Pepper Clove
Gambier Rubber Nutmeg
Tobacco Tin Mace
Oil palm

Tin Pepper Gambier Rubber Mace

Oil palm Tobacco Nutmeg Clove

D. Abstraction
Colonialism is defined as “control by one power over a dependent area or people.” It occurs when one
nation subjugates another, conquering its population and exploiting it, often while forcing its own language and
cultural values upon its people. Subjugation of people sometimes includes slavery and forced labor wherein the
master has the rights to its subject or slaves.
The British, Dutch and Spaniards raced not for the benefit of its colony but for gold and glory. Spaniards
did used God as its reason for colonialism along with gold and glory.