Give 3 impacts of European colonialism in Southeast Asia This is my short essay for Southeast Asia class! I really want to visit Southeast Asia!!!! From 16th century, European countries started to colonize Southeast Asian countries to seek plenty of their natural resources and cheap huge labour. It still affects political system in a Southeast Asia, but we can see other European influence from the other angle. Speaking of religion, the most percentage of religion in Southeast Asia is Islam. However, the invader introduce them to Christianity, and it is still popular in some countries. For example, the Philippine’s majority are Christian. It is more than 86 percent of the population is Roman Catholic and including the other Christianity, over 90% are Christian. This is influenced by Spain and United States over 400 years . Also, western culture affects Southeast Asian’s food culture. It is common to use their own hands to eat meal such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. When Spain came to the Philippines, they brought their way of eating, and they mainly chose the spoon and forks. Therefore, they can use them very well. Their plantation are also influenced by colonial period because colonized countries had to develop their plantation part for the invader. Take Malaysia as an example, British policies promoted the planting of especially rubber, and it became Malaysian’s major export. And in Vietnam, their coffee was introduced by French I think 19th century. Vietnam is the second largest exporter now.