A plural society is one based on the principle that people of different races, religion and political beliefs live together within the same community. Western colonialism refers to the period in which the European countries mainly Britain, France and Holland, controlled a region or a country of their interests both economically and politically. South East Asian states had been under the control of the colonizing European countries since 1870s except the non-colonial Siam. Ethnic diversity had existed in pre-colonial South East Asia. There were differences in language or rather dialect, lifestyles and occupation although the people were of the same ethnic group. However, despite the pre-existing conditions in South East Asia, western colonization was seen as the key factor in the formation of plural societies.
             Unlike the earlier South East Asia's conquerors, the Western colonial power didn't want to be at the same level as the indigenous people. According to Butcher and Taylor, the Europeans began placing greater distances between themselves and Asians. When more Europeans came to the colonies, all relations with other races came to an end because they were following the concepts of superiority and inferiority by which they considered themselves as the civilized group of people who came to South East Asia to teach the Asians their values and lifestyles. As indigenous people started to behave like Europeans and got English education, the Europeans couldn't see their uniqueness and superiority anymore and thus, they began to segregate Asians from their 'enclaves'. The 'colour bar' was used by the Europeans as a means of maintaining their supremacy.
             There is a variety of conditions that caused the development of plural societies in South East Asian states during the western colonial era. Since the Europeans regarded themselves as the ruling class in their colonies, they therefore had the right t...