Introduction

Language

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Southeast Asia represents one of the most cul tura l ly d iverse areas of the

wor ld. Consist ing of 11 geographica l ly expansive nat ions, th is region pos-

sesses a bounty of re l ig ious, cu l inary, l inguist ic, and ethnic backgrounds. This

area is d iv ided into “main land” and “ is land” zones, each with the i r own unique

ident i t ies. The main land countr ies of Southeast Asia are Burma, Thai land,

Laos, Cambodia, and V ietnam. The is land countr ies inc lude Malays ia, S inga-

pore, the Phi l ippines, Brunei , and East T imor. W ith approximate ly 600 mi l l ion

people as of 2010, i t is a lso one of the fastest growing regions of the wor ld.

Despi te hav ing an est imated 50,000 years to develop the i r cu l ture, the region

has very recent ly exper ienced huge shi f ts of populat ion, language, and

re l ig ion.

Of the s ix thousand act ive languages around the wor ld, around one thousand

are thought to ex ist in Southeast Asia. Though many of these languages are

considered local and have very few speakers, many of them f i t into 5 major

language groups: Sino-T ibetan, Austro-Asiat ic, Austronesian, Papuan, and

Fore ign languages. The most prevalent languages of these major groups are

Burmese, Thai , Mon, V ietnamese, Malay, Indonesian, Tagalog, Chinese, and

Engl ish.

Cultural Diversityin Southeast Asia

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However, the balance of language in Southeast Asia is anyth ing but stable at the

moment. Many of the ear l ier local languages in the region have e i ther d ied out or

become endangered in the prev ious 50 years. This is the resul t of a recent sh i f t

of major Southeast Asian countr ies to Chinese and Engl ish in terms of school ing

and everyday speech. Modern Chinese is rapid ly becoming the language of

business in nat ions l ike Indonesia and Malays ia as parents are choosing to send

thei r ch i ldren to Chinese schools rather than ones taught in the local language.

Engl ish is ga in ing as much, i f not more popular i ty due to i ts f requent appearance

and use in pop cul ture songs and movies. Preservat ion efforts have been made

by many nat ions, such as Thai land, to ensure that indigenous language divers i ty

remains as strong as i t once was. Di rector of UNESCO Bangkok, Dr. Gwang-Jo

Kim, corroborated th is in a Bangkok conference, stat ing that languages are

strategica l ly important for nat ional and internat ional development goals. Whether

or not these rev i ta l izat ion efforts can reverse the current language t rend remains

to be seen.

Southeast Asia possesses remarkable d ivers i ty in re l ig ion as wel l , boast ing s ix

separate major re l ig ions: Hinduism, Is lam, Buddhism, Chr ist ian i ty, Animism, and

Confucianism, many of which have numerous di fferent branches. Hinduism, one

of the wor ld’s o ldest re l ig ions, started in India and rapid ly spread to the south.

However, there are hardly any Hindus le f t in Southeast Asia to th is day. On the

other hand, Is lam was re lat ive ly s low to spread to the region, but is current ly the

major i ty re l ig ion in Southeast Asia, wi th over 240 mi l l ion adherents and s igni f i -

cant fo l lowings in Indonesia, Malays ia, and Brunei . I t has been kept v ibrant as a

resul t of the emphasis on re l ig ion in Musl im school ing systems. Another major

Religion

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re l ig ion found there is Chr ist ian i ty. This re l ig ion only arr ived in Southeast Asia in

the 1500s, but Cathol ic ism has become the major i ty in the Phi l ippines and East

T imor. Through China, Buddhism was a l lowed to spread and become popular as

wel l . I t has become the major i ty re l ig ion in Thai land, Burma, and Laos. Whi le

Animism and Confucianism are a few of the lesser pract iced re l ig ions in South-

east Asia, they st i l l ho ld a b i t of cu l tura l re levance. Animism and spi r i t worship

have mingled extensive ly wi th local re l ig ion, despi te not being fo l lowed c losely by

many. In a s imi lar sense, whi le Confucianism remains present to a smal l degree

in V ietnam and var ied Chinese communit ies, the complex bel ie f system is largely

what a ids to keep th is re l ig ion v ibrant.

As unique and intr icate as the l inguist ic and re l ig ious groups in Southeast Asia

are, so too are the ethnic groups. However, more so than re l ig ion, ethnic groups

and local language of the area are inextr icably l inked to one another. A few of the

major ethnic groups inc lude the Khmer, Mon, T ibeto-Burman, Tai , Lao, Shan,

Karen, Chin, Naga, Javanese, Sundanese, Burman people, and many others.

Fore ign immigrant groups f rom India, China, and Arab Nat ions have contr ibuted

to a more d iverse b lend of ethnic backgrounds as wel l . These groups have intro-

duced thei r cu l tures in the region, in f luencing the spread of Chinese as a major

language in Southeast Asia and Is lam as one of the pr imary languages.

A long and fascinat ing h istory of ar t in var ious forms a lso ex ists in Southeast

Asia. Or ig ina l ly, near ly every ethnic group in the region had i ts own, d ist inct ar t

sty le. Though or ig ina l ar t forms have been around as long as mankind, art in

Southern Asia became revolut ion ized when Indian commerce expanded south-

wards; f i rst , i t t rave l led to the main land nat ions, but i t rapid ly t rave l led to the

insular regions. In addi t ion to the indiv idual ethnic groups, re l ig ious art began to

d isperse throughout many of the nat ions f rom the 9th to the 15th century. Trade

fac i l i tated th is change, lending way to Hindu and Buddhist ar t f rom the north and

Is lamic art arr iv ing f rom the east. European art forms were introduced later on

f rom Portugal and the Nether lands. However, these arr ived a b i t late compared

EthnicGroups

Art

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to the pre-ex ist ing art in Southeast Asia. At th is point , Southeast Asian art had

coalesced in such a d ist inct form f rom any Western art that European inf luences

fa i led to make any impact on th is aspect of Eastern cul ture.

I t would be inadequate in any d iscussion of cu l ture to neglect everyone’s favor i te

part of such a d iverse society: the food. Southeast Asian cuis ine comes in a l l

forms, shapes, and s izes, textures, and f lavors, but conta ins a few important

common staples, methods, and ingredients. Some s ignature tools of the t rade for

the i r food are the t radi t ional wok, wok tools, c leavers, and r ice cookers. Or ig ina l-

ly f rom China, th is is a tool adapted by many other Asian countr ies used for st i r

f ry ing. Southeast Asian food tends to conta in a wider var iety of spices than

Western food and of ten conta ins the staples of curry, pork, vegetable, r ice, or

broth. This smatter ing of ingredients draws some commonal i t ies, but in actual i ty

the d i fferent forms vary widely. Though Southeast Asian cuis ine is d i ff icu l t to

p inpoint , each nat ion does have each of i ts own s ignature d ishes. Some of the

Southwestern food takes af ter Indian d ishes, but the most wel l -known is Thai

food. Some famous Thai foods inc lude Tom Yum Goong, Som Tum, and Pad Thai .

Some other wel l -known favor i te Southeast Asian foods are Pho, Nasi Goreng,

Laksa, and Laap: cuis ine with d ist inct spices, f lavors, and h istor ies.

W ith in the region, there is a lso a v ibrant sport cu l ture. Soccer, the wor ld’s most

popular sport , remains a common past ime throughout Southeast Asia. For

instance, these nat ions are in constant and heated compet i t ion with one another

for Wor ld Cup qual i f icat ion each four years. Cr icket is a lso immensely popular.

Addi t ional ly, every two years the Southeast Asian Games are held; these are an

intense compet i t ion involv ing many unique sports nat ive to Southeast Asia,

inc luding Wushu, Petanque, Sepak Takraw, Pencak Si lat , Tradi t ional Boat Racing,

and Squash. Other compet i t ions inc lude the Asian Games, ASEAN School

Games, ASEAN Univers i ty Games, and, of course, the Olympics.

Cul tura l d ivers i ty in Southeast Asia is a constant struggle. The region is one of

Food

Sports

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the most d iverse in the wor ld, but many of the or ig ina l local parts that have

made i t so unique are being chal lenged by other sect ions of the wor ld. Indian

and Chinese cul ture prov ide powerfu l in f luences over many of the less populated

Southeast Asian nat ions, hav ing inf luenced thei r language, re l ig ion, customs,

food, and ethnic i ty. More recent ly, the Dutch, Portuguese, and Engl ish language

have made thei r own incurs ions into the cul ture. However, i t can be argued that

these outs ide cul tures are s imply a natura l product of g lobal izat ion and that

Southeast Asian t radi t ions wi l l not be swal lowed up, but s imply made more

unique. Which of these occurrences wi l l turn out to be t rue remains to be seen.

U N I V E R S I T Y O F P E N N S Y L V A N I A | I N T E R N A T I O N A L A F F A I R S A S S O C I A T I O N

Bibliography

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“28th Southeast Asian Games - Singapore 2015”. (2014, December 24) . Retr ieved January 17, 2017, f rom https://southeastas iansports.b logspot.com/2014/12/28th-south-east-as ian-games-s ingapore_24.html

"Asian Cuis ine and Foods." As ian-Nat ion : As ian Amer ican History, Demographics, & Issues. January 2017. Accessed January 17, 2017. ht tp://www.asian-nat ion.org/as ian-food.shtml.

Brandon, James R., Maung Ht in Aung, Phi l l ip S. Rawson, and Jose Maceda. "Southeast Asian arts." Encyclopædia Br i tannica. 2015. Accessed January 16, 2017. ht tps://www.br i tanni-ca.com/art/Southeast-Asian-arts.

Calderbank, Danie l . "Preserv ing language divers i ty." Bangkok Post. November 30, 2010. Accessed January 16, 2017. ht tp://www.bangkokpost.com/learn ing/educat ion-fea-tures/208786/preserv ing- language-divers i ty.

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Freder ick, W i l l iam H., and Thomas R. Le inbach. "Southeast Asia." Encyclopædia Br i tannica. 2009. Accessed January 16, 2017. ht tps://www.br i tannica.com/place/Southeast-Asia.

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" Introduct ion to Southeast Asia." As ia Society. Accessed January 15, 2017. ht tp://as iasoci-ety.org/educat ion/ introduct ion-southeast-as ia.

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Kle inmeyer, Cindy. "Rel ig ions of Southeast Asia." Northern I l l ino is Univers i ty. June 2004. Accessed January 14, 2017. ht tp://www.niu.edu/cseas/outreach/pdfs/or ig ins_re l ig ion.pdf.

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Rodgers, G. (2016, December 29) . Southeast Asia's Top Ten Foods for Travel ing Eaters. Retr ieved January 17, 2017, f rom http://goseasia.about.com/od/southeast_asia_food/tp/south-east-as ia- food.htm

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Questions to Consider:

Please answer all questions either in the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper and bring your answers to PIRC.

We will use your answer in the discussion and be collecting your worksheets.

1. What is the most interesting aspect of Southeast Asian culture to you? Why?

2. Dr. Gwang-Jo Kim spoke on the importance of language to a society. How important do you think language is to sustaining Southeast Asian culture? What gives it this value?

3. What do you think has allowed so many different religions, languages, and cultural icons to coexistin Southeast Asia?

4. Do you think that the local cultural values and traditions will be able to stand up to foreign and traditions? Why?

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