and national-level nationality until the Federation achieved independence on Merdeka Day (Low, 2017). Jus soli citizenship The current nationality laws were shaped by the politics of communalism between the Malays and non-Malay (Chinese and Indian) migrant labourers. We will examine the three key developments of how the controversial jus soli principle of citizenship was implemented and how it was finally adopted into the Federation Constitution post-Independence in 1957 (Low, 2017). First, during the Malayan Union in 1946, the British introduced jus soli for all local-born children of immigrants, which threatened the concept of citizenship under the Malay states (Cheah, 2002). This meant that the local-born immigrant children would automatically qualify for citizenship without needing to declare allegiance to the Malay rulers (Cheah, 1978). However, this liberal form of citizenship was not passed because of the strong opposition from the Malay community amidst growing Malay ethnonationalism during this period. Second, during the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948, the concept of double jus soli was introduced whereby second-generation migrants obtained federal citizenship automatically if both of their parents were born and resided in the Federation for a continuous period of at least 15 years (Article 124 (1)(e), Federation of Malaya Agreement). This form of jus soli citizenship was too restrictive as less than one-third of local-born Chinese and Indians became Malaysian citizens by operation of law (K. J. Ratnam, 1965). In contrast, it benefited Malays, indigenous persons, and British subjects who were able to acquire Malaysian citizenship by virtue of being born in the Malay states or British colonies. Lastly, the constitutional amendment in 1952 saw the double jus soli principle being replaced with the delayed jus soli principle where local-born children became subjects of a Malay ruler if one of their parents were born in the Federation of Malaya. This amendment resulted in a total of 1,157,000 Chinese, 220,000 Indians, and 2,727,000 Malays automatically becoming Federal citizens (Low, 2017). This restricted form of jus soli 51