Del and Kylia entered the classroom that was specifically designated for Kylia's use. After meeting with Madam Yeva this morning and reporting Kylia's progress, Del immediately went to pick up Kylia from her room and bring her to the classroom to study.
As usual, Willie followed them from behind with a foolish grin on his face. His status had now risen from a clown to a pet. The loyalty and obedience that Willie showed melted Del's heart and gave him a chance to climb the ranks.
The three of them arrived in the classroom, and as usual, Kylia sat in the front row while Willie sat beside her in the back. Del walked straight to the storage cabinet where he kept Kylia's books, selected the appropriate book for today's lesson, and brought it to the teacher's desk.
"Willie, if you want to go out later, you can just leave and don't bother me while I'm teaching or Kylia while she's studying," Del warned their new dog.
"I won't go out to play, Willie will stay in class and learn!" Willie said with his eyes showing determination, but neither Del nor Kylia believed his words.
"Willie, you always say that but in the end, you only last a few minutes before falling asleep or starting a conversation with one of us," Kylia teased Willie's sore spot.
"What? I'm not like that... uuuh... I never disturb Kylia while she's studying," Willie tried to defend himself.
"You are! Your snoring voice bothers us, and when you're woken up, your mouth won't stop blabbering. If I didn't have the patience of a mountain, I would have already smashed your skull!" Del crushed Willie's argument mercilessly.
"Ugh... This time, I won't fall asleep, I promise!"
"Oh.. and why is that?"
"Because this time, Del will teach me about history!" Willie said enthusiastically.
"Hehehe… You really love history, Willie," Kylia smiled and petted Willie's head like she was petting a dog's head.
"Hehehe… I love history! Soekarno said not to forget history!"
"Oh, is that so? Alright then, Willie, I will tell you about the dark side of our country's history," Del said, smiling mischievously like a villain wanting to corrupt the innocence of an underage girl.
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Eshya United Nation, or abbreviated as EUN or simply Eshya, is a large country located in the southeast of the Asian continent. It consists of tens of thousands of large and small islands scattered between the Indian Ocean and the West Pacific.
Before EUN was formed, this region was only known as Southeast Asia. It consisted of 11 independent countries; Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), Vietnam, and Timor Leste. With a population of over 650 million people and a diverse range of ethnicities, religions, and cultures.
Its location on the equator makes this region very rich in natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, tin, copper, gold, and various agricultural products such as rice, coffee, rubber, and palm oil. This region also has a high level of biodiversity, with many endemic flora and fauna species.
However, when the era of colonialism came, Southeast Asia became a soft target for powerful countries to colonize. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Western powers such as Portugal and the Netherlands came to Southeast Asia to dominate the spice trade, such as cloves and pepper. This region was ruled for centuries.
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"Willie, do you like history? Tell me, is Southeast Asia so weak that it could be colonized for centuries by the West?" Del acknowledged Willie's ability to memorize, but he wanted to test his understanding.
"Eh? Weren't we colonized because we were weak? Western powers had cannons and ships that were far more advanced than ours, so they could easily dominate the seas. Their soldiers were also much stronger and their bodies were much larger than ours," Willie replied.
Del smiled bitterly, even though they had united and become a very strong country, the sense of inferiority was still ingrained in the minds of its people. Strangely, the history books used in schools still used old stories made by the old ruling powers.
"Kylia, what do you think?"
"Hmm... in my opinion, our ancestors shouldn't have been this weak. We have great kingdoms that to this day their achievements are recorded throughout world history." Kylia hesitated to answer.
"You're right. We have great kingdoms whose legends are not far behind other kingdoms in the West.
"Like the Khmer Empire known for its advanced architecture and art, such as the Angkor Wat temple building which became one of the wonders of the world and still a popular tourist destination. This empire also developed a sophisticated irrigation system to irrigate rice fields, thus increasing its production and becoming the basis of its economic and political power.
"The Sriwijaya Empire, during its heyday, became an important trading center in Southeast Asia, especially in the spice and gold trade. The Sriwijaya Empire also became a center for the development of Buddhism in Southeast Asia.
"For centuries, the Sriwijaya fleet built a powerful navy and became a dominant maritime power in Southeast Asia. The Sriwijaya fleet was able to dominate the maritime trading routes in the Strait of Malacca and establish trade relations with countries in East Asia, India, and Arabia.
"Or like the Majapahit Empire which successfully repelled the Mongol invasion that tried to control the Java region at that time. The Majapahit Empire was a center of culture and an important trading center in Southeast Asia at that time.
"King Hayam Wuruk and Prime Minister Gajah Mada developed a sophisticated governance system and were able to expand the Majapahit territory to encompass most of the Nusantara. During the reign of Hayam Wuruk, the Majapahit Empire established trade and diplomatic relations with countries in East Asia, India, and Arabia.
"And there are still many other kingdoms whose achievements we should be proud of. But their inscriptions and stories are buried in history, waiting for the time to resurface.
"The indication that we are a weak nation and can easily be colonized by external forces is foolish to believe. We used to have a powerful navy fleet that sailed their ships to every corner of the world. We do not know how far their achievements were and how many territories in the world they saw.
"Our historians are still busy studying foreign cultures, forgetting to dig into their own history. Their lack of courage to openly declare their ancestors' achievements to the world because of the little evidence they have is regrettable. Even though history itself is a story built by descendants' pride in their ancestors."
At this point, Del saw the faces of his two students change. Willie, who likes history, had never heard this version of the story from his school teachers, and Kylia, who heard it for the first time, could only be stunned.
Del successfully instilled a sense of awe in the hearts of his two students, an admiration for their ancestors that could someday become the seed to eradicate their inferiority complex towards their own nation.
"We return to my previous question, tell me, is Southeast Asia so weak that it was colonized for centuries by the West?"
"That's not possible," Willie answered with fiery eyes.
Del's smile widened and he nodded, "That's right, Willie. That's not possible!" Del did not know what actually happened in the past, he no longer had the power to peek into the river of time. However, a nation feeling inferior to others is a disease that must be treated immediately.
That's why Del came up with several theories from books and historical documents that he was able to collect.
"We were not colonized by Western powers for centuries, but we were trying to be colonized for centuries. While the actual period of colonization was only a few decades or maybe even years.
"Let's take the example of the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand), the only known region that was never colonized during the colonial era. There were several reasons why King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) was able to keep his region from being colonized by the West.
"Basically, I concluded that there were two factors, internal and external.
"Internally, at that time, King Chulalongkorn strengthened the integrity of his region and avoided any division that could be used by Western powers to sow discord.
"During his reign, King Chulalongkorn carried out major reforms in governance, military, and social culture of Thailand. He introduced a modern bureaucracy system and abolished the feudal system that existed previously, as well as modernizing the Thai military by introducing the Western military model and forming a more professional army.
"Externally, Thailand is located between two powers, England and France. With King Chulalongkorn's great diplomatic ability, he was able to maintain good relations with the Western powers such as England and France through agreements and policies that benefited both sides.
"With his efforts, King Chulalongkorn succeeded in making Thailand the only country in Southeast Asia that was not colonized by Western powers.
"But is that really the case? It should be noted that Thailand itself had influence and power over surrounding regions, such as Laos, Cambodia, and Burma in the past. Thus, Thailand at that time was a very strong kingdom, a legacy of the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
"History records show that many other kingdoms refused the arrival of Western powers and tried to fight back. So the statement should be that Thailand was the only kingdom that was not colonized in Southeast Asia and managed to survive.
"However, an important reason why those kingdoms were destroyed was due to wars with neighboring kingdoms or civil wars within themselves. The Western powers employed a clever divide-and-conquer strategy by funding the enemies of those kingdoms that rejected their presence.
"In the end, the kingdoms that resisted were destroyed, leaving only the ones that had diplomacy and debt to the Western powers. These resistances show that although many kingdoms in Southeast Asia fell into the hands of colonial powers, some of the last kingdoms still fought for independence and defended their freedom."
"So the conclusion is that we are not a weak nation. The Vietnam War successfully made the strongest army retreat, and the Indonesian Guerrilla War forced the Netherlands to resort to diplomacy. This shows that our people are not any less strong and tough than Western nations."
Del stopped here waiting for his two students to digest what he had just explained. A few minutes later, Del stood up from his seat and walked towards the blackboard.
He wrote three words with chalk in his hand, "Eshya United Nation."
"Now we will move on to the next topic. The beginning of the history of the formation of the Eshya United Nation."