After WW II, when the Malay states were liberated from Japanese rule, the former British possessions united into common rule as the Federation of Malaysia. Immediately it faced a challenge to legitimacy, in the form of massive worker strikes and the emergent Malaysian Communist Party, which forced it to declare a national state of emergency in 1948. Almost a decade had to pass for the disputes to be settled and Malaysia to come into full independence.

On this day, August 27, in 1957, four days before the state would gain independence with the England-affiliated Commonwealth of Nations, Malaysia enacted its constitution.

Among the most controversial provisions of the Constitution of Malaysia is Article 153, granting the King the power and duty to “safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities” This Malay version of Affirmative Action has led to heated debates, and in 1969 widespread riots.