The Effects of Colonialism
Assessing the long-term costs and benefits of colonial rule in mainland
Southeast Asia is difficult because the full costs of colonialism are often
hidden. In some countries, Europeans brought in European-style infrastructure,
including centralized education and health services, but dismantled
the indigenous systems of traditional medicine and temple schools in
Theravada Buddhist countries. Colonialism forced the opening of more
land for rice cultivation for export. The costs to indigenous subsistence patterns
were great following the colonial emphasis on export cash crops such
as rubber, rice, teak, and tea. Many small farmers lost their land to larger
land owners better able to afford the costs of new technology required for
plantation agriculture. Transformation to a wage economy began under
colonial rule. As landless rural migrants swelled pluralistic cities such as
Saigon, Rangoon, Singapore, and Bangkok, cities began to be seen as centers
of culture, the home of urban elites who saw themselves as superior to
the backward peasants in the countryside.