Within the Federation, while the Malay states were protectorates of the United Kingdom, Penang and Malacca remained British colonial territories.

"[6] It was signed on 21 January 1948 at King House by the Malay rulers, and by Sir Edward Gent as the representative of the British government.

The conditions of citizenship of the Federation of Malaya were further tightened using law enforcement and naturalisation by application.

Under the laws, the following were automatically granted citizenship: Via naturalisation (by application), one could achieve citizenship, given these criteria: In both cases (via naturalisation), applications must be well-behaved, swear allegiance and clarify their reasons for living in the federation, and are fluent in either the Malay or the English language.

[6] The Federation of Malaya Legislative Council held its first meeting in the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Hall, Kuala Lumpur in 1948.

The membership of the Council was structured to include: The unofficial members were required to be either Federation citizens or British subjects.

Burhanuddin led PKMM toward the formation of Melayu Raya, a merger of Indonesia and Malaya.

PKKM established the Pusat Tenaga Rakyat (PUTERA), a conglomeration of radical Malay Political Parties and then merged with the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action (AMCJA) which thoroughly opposed the 1948 Federation Agreement for the foundation of the Federation of Malaya.

PKMM accused officials selected in the Federation of Malaya of being "puppets" of the "Colonial Office".