ABSTRACT
Malaya obtained independence from Britain in 1957, and in 1963, Singapore and two former British Borneo colonies merged with Malaya to form the Federation of Malaysia. Two years later, Singapore broke off from the Federation because of racial, linguistic, and political differences. One of the disputes between Singapore and the federal Malaysian government was on the issue of providing special privileges, and financial and economic benefits, to the Malays, which was guaranteed under article 153 of the constitution of Malaysia (Milne 1966, 178).
