What makes a Southeast Asian?

 Jasey Great points! Your last point does bring out an important issue on the Southeast Asian identity and image. I do feel that within Southeast Asia, there's always the notion of inferiority among different countries. For example, people might see the economically advanced Singapore as superior. (If something's popular in Singapore, Indonesia will embrace it) And I do hear some Thais get rather insulted if they are mistaken as Lao. and so on. 

But if we could all embrace a Southeast Asian identity, perhaps then we could see one another as peers and equal. 

 beldakosasih Agree. But we need to find that commonly agreed on identity and its meaning, which is not easy considering how different we all are: language, beliefs, ethos, history, etc. etc. But I think as borders become more porous and people move and settle more easily than before, we might get that elusive common identity in decades to come. But the first thing that must arise before we can get there is respect and acceptance. Without the former, we'll always see ourselves as apart from the rest.

As for your statement about Thais getting insulted by being mistaken as Laotian, we need to realise the history of those parts which was marked by moving borders, numerous wars and conflicts, etc. dating back to god knows how many centuries ago till the more recent colonial period of French Indo-China. Which is also why the Cambodians and Thais seem to be quite antagonistic towards each other. I won't bore you with the long and convoluted history of those parts except to say that the Khmer (now Cambodian) Angkor empire was huge until the Siamese Ayutthaya pushed them eastwards and subsequent Siamese/Thai polity encroached upon their land. And the reason why Cambodia agreed to French control was in response to the Siamese and Vietnamese threat. One good example is the famed Emerald Buddha which was actually meant for Burma but ended up in Angkor Wat before being taken by the Siamese. Interestingly, Thai, Laotian and Khmer culture and language seems have quite a number of similarities which to us outsiders should mean that they have more in common hence would find it easier to create a common cross border identity. But obviously their historic animosity prevents that.

So if these neighbours see themselves as separate and distinct, what more an Indonesian and Vietnamese or a Singaporean and Filipino.

On the other hand, Indonesia is an interesting case study. Prior to the Dutch and the nationalist movement, it was made up of countless realms with their own petty princes, sultans, etc. each with their own history, culture, religion and language. The Dutch broke most of them up and kept the rest as part of their administrative structure. So in a sense, it was like South East Asia today, made up of different countries. I guess the start of the process of creating a common identity only started with the independence movement during and after the second world war. They had a common cause, expel the Dutch. And when it was finally united under Sukarno's republic, the next cause was nation building and getting rid of the communists. I am not sure how strong the Indonesian identity is but I've heard of resentment and minor conflicts between the different groups of people. Which is not surprising considering that these groups still maintain their own tradition, language, etc. For example, one rumour I heard was that the Malays of Riau-Lingga resent the dominance of the Javanese (disregarding Bahasa Indonesia, these two groups have very different languages, culture and even clothing). So I am curious if they managed to keep their differences from damaging their national identity as Indonesians.

PS: Sorry for the rambling. I am a history buff and tend to go on and on once on that topic. =)

 Jasey "Some commentors have mentioned The Ramayana Crescent or the importance of the South China Sea and Malacca straits in the history of this region. But unfortunately, I think these might only matter to historians, academics and/or politicians. Does it mean enough to the common person to create that link between us." 

I definitely agree with this. I haven't read enough about the history of this region for The Ramayana Crescent or any of this stuff to really mean anything to me. If there were any historical areas or events that have contributed to anything that we share in this region, it is something I have unconsciously absorbed. Otherwise I've been influenced by my own experiences and observations of the region.

I do feel linked to this region and the people in this region, despite the fact that it is so difficult to pin down what "Southeast Asian" really means. For me it is a sense of diversity, as if the term is defined by its stubborn refusal TO be defined. But at the same time I am aware that this sense of belonging has also come from my travels and the friendships that have been struck up, and therefore it does in a way come from a more privileged experience. Which leads me to wonder if a person who has not had the good fortune to travel would feel the same way? For example, would a villager in a Burmese/Laotian/Cambodian village, who has never been out of his country, feel the same about the region? 

 kixes 

Die. This is the sort of discussion that would keep me up for hours. Anyway, just one last comment before I sleep.

One of the problems we face is that what would have been a natural flow in our history was interrupted by the arrival of the European colonial powers and their concept of spheres of influence and the Westphalia notion of nation-state sovereignty which we absorbed to create our present national identity as heirs to these European powers. Prior to their arrival, the concept of nation and nationhood was very different. People do move around freely according to circumstances. My existence is proof of that. My paternal grandparents came from China and my dad was born here, but my mom is Peranakan Chinese from Penang and one of her ancestors is Siamese (I'm using that term to be historically accurate) and god knows what other races or ethnicities are there in my mom's ancestry.

However, I hesitate to place the blame on the Europeans because a regional actor of sufficient ambition and power could have done what they did.

As for your second comment on your privileged experience, I would also like to add that on top of that you have a somewhat ecumenical (for want of a better word) and progressive outlook. Because there are other privileged people who travel but look at other cultures through their own prejudiced lenses and hence see others as alien.

For those who live in villages in their home country and have not travel, I would speculate that their identity is that of their own village or ethnicity. As you may know, in countries like Thailand, Myanmar or Laos, there are many different ethnicities with their own languages (sometimes shared across borders), cultures and beliefs. I don't know if they see themselves as Thais, Burmese/Myanmarese or Laotian first and their ethnicity second or vice versa.

As travel becomes cheaper and more readily available, I think it will help to bridge that gap and perhaps bring about a need to find a common identity or even bring about a realisation of that identity itself.

But one main obstacle would be politics (within a country or regional) that serves to divide us. It seems to me that differences real or imagined are only highlighted for political reasons by both politicians and non-politicians. And transcending that might be impossible unless the politics change to support this search for a common SEAsian identity. Not to be pessimistic, but I don't think that will happen. However, I wouldn't disregard the impetus and effort despite politics to achieve that by the common people through travel. But until travel for all becomes a reality, I'm afraid this search for the South East Asian identity might be a quest reserved for the privileged ones with money (though I'm willing to be proven wrong on that account =)).

 Jasey Hahaha. Don't worry about the length, I think we all get a lot of insight from your wonderful comments. On that note, would also like to invite you to write something for us if you will! We have a section under history if you noticed, so feel free! :D 

I'm not so sure if Thai - Lao relations if that much affected by history. Perhaps over the years, the resentment may have subtly built up. With the case of Cambodia and Thai, I would think that recent border issues have definitely built up a sense of hostility for some. From what I hear with the Thai and Laos, it has to do with the relatively better economy that the Thais enjoy compared to the Lao people. So when a Thai think Laotians, they think farmer, backwards, poor and negative connotations like that, so they often prefer not to be associated with that. 

I think Thai Chinese do not identify themselves as strongly Chinese compared to us. I know of someone who didn't even know his grandfather was Chinese until he was 30+ (when the grandfather suddenly spoke Chinese and he got a big shock) But then as far as I know, Thai Chinese hasn't really been oppressed much, it could also be the similarities they share with the Thai that make it so easy for them to assimilate. For some reason, there's something about the government oppressing one's ethnicity that makes people identify even more with it. The Burmese ethnic groups definitely identify more with their ethnicities. Cambodian Chinese for example, were pretty excited to hear that Indonesian Chinese used to be oppressed because we pretty much share similar histories. I think one thing most of Southeast Asia also share is a history of oppression. Sort of strange for a shared Southeast Asian identity, but it makes us relate to one another better in a way. 

As for Indonesia, I think we have enough troubles keeping the peace in the country, much less try and form a sort of Southeast Asian identity. Don't get me wrong, most Indonesians are very proud to be Indonesian and very proud of the country despite its many blunders in the political arena. It's hard to tell really what people identify with first (citizenship, ethnicity, or religion) It really depends of personal experience and what the person has been through.People also take on different identities at different times depending on where they're at, who they're with etc. In general, because the islands can be so divided in Indonesia, people just form the generic stereotypes about one another. Like the occasional racist comment, you married so-and-so from that island? Aren't they really black? 

But in the end, it's still our experiences that build our identity (which is why I think it would be interesting if everyone shared their own in a post). For Kirsten and I, I think we started developing a Southeast Asian identity only through traveling in the region and getting to know other Southeast Asian. Otherwise, you pretty much just care about issues in your country or maybe 1-2 neighboring countries. In Indonesia for one, most simply travel within the country and if they could afford it, they would visit modern countries such as Singapore or Australia. Or religious places in the middle east. Traveling to another Southeast Asia country like their own just doesn't seem very big on their priorities. After all, if all you've seen are dirt roads and villages, you would hardly care to pay money to see more dirt roads and villages. 

 Jasey Your point about politics it's true. It's why – despite how much I love Southeast Asia – I don't really like/feel comfortable with ASEAN. I see it as a political body where everything is really done for political expediency, a construct more thrust upon us than something that the people actually recognise.But then again, perhaps it is because of this ASEAN that there have been regional networks set up, sparking off the interest in people to travel and learn more about our neighbouring countries. I'm not sure. But certainly my sense of SEA and its people feels separate to the political network of ASEAN.

Still, I do have hope that there will be more cooperation and more of a SEA affinity coming up over time (hence this site!) In the past 2 - 3 years I have been attending some regional events and observed that there are many SEAsian youth who have the desire to step out of their own countries to meet and learn and work with others in the region, and that is very encouraging to know.

 beldakosasih  Jasey Definitely. When I was growing up in Singapore I didn't really feel much of a connection with others in Southeast Asia, or see myself as part of this region. I think it does have to do with the fact that Singapore and Singaporeans do prefer to compare ourselves with richer, more developed countries such as Japan or the US. And in everyday life in Singapore you don't really hear that much about other Southeast Asian countries, unless it's someone talking about what a mess it is and how bad the traffic is and how kids get kidnapped and yada yada.

In fact, when I was a kid one reason we didn't go travelling in Southeast Asian countries was because my father was worried that my little brother and I would get kidnapped in Thailand and be forced to be beggars (because of stories we would hear of kids disappearing and found as beggars in Thailand with their tongues cut out). And even last year when I first told my mum that I'm going to the Philippines she was like, "Why? That place is not very good, it's so messy." She's never been to the Philippines, though, and I'm not even sure if she knows anyone from the Philippines.

So there is an element of "don't go there, it's dangerous and the people cannot be trusted", and one really needs to get over that. Once you do you start to see that even in all the diversity common threads can be found.

 beldakosasih Ur comment about Thai Chinese is interesting. The Chinese there have had a long history stretching back for centuries. As for the Thais themselves, they supposedly originated from the southern part of China as part of the Tai group who crossed over approximately 1000 years ago. Maybe that might explain the relations. Through the years, both people have intermarried and quite a large majority of Thais would have some Chinese ancestry. Even the founder of the present royal dynasty had Chinese blood.

But of course that doesn't mean much if the Chinese there were seen as a separate people to be oppressed. Using Indonesia and Cambodia as an example, it seems that when your race/ethnicity/culture is used as a reason to separate and treat differently, you become more aware of it. Whereas the Thai-Chinese were seen as part of the larger whole and hence blended and assimilated.

In Singapore, the Chinese are always reminded by the government of their Chinese-ness just like the Malays and Indians are reminded constantly of their own race. The gov might have their own reasons which I fail to understand. I've always hoped that a Singaporean "race" would appear that transcend all our history origins. But I guess that's too idealistic on my part.

I would share my own identity journey in a separate comment.

 kixes Yeah, I feel ASEAN is pretty toothless despite its years of existence. But to be fair, the fact that it exists somehow gave people a sense an over-arching "identity". And the other regional culture and sports (under the ASEAN umbrella or not) events do help it along, especially when their own national media publicise it. After several decades, I'm sure the idea took hold. But how it's going to progress from idea to a real identity is anyone's guess lah.

 sonnylebythebay Ur point 3 is interesting. Some would say that the connection between the forms from Hawaii to Taiwan (Formosa) is because Taiwan is the point of origin for the Malayo-Polynesian group that spread throughout Polynesia, the Malay peninsula, the Indonesian archipelago (including the Philippines) and perhaps Okinawa when it was still the un-Japanised Ryukyu.