[77] The Malaysian Constitution has, since independence, provided that indigenous people enjoy a "special position" and are entitled to superior access to scholarships, licenses, and employment in the civil service. Even before the merger with the Borneo states, who was a Malay was specified by the Constitution. Constitution of Malaysia, article 153, in Albert P. Blaustein and Gisbert H. Flanz, eds., Constitutions of the Countries of the World, vol. 9 (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana, 1988), pt. 12, pp. 153–56. For the official definition of a Malay, see article 160, in ibid., pp. 161–62. For its rationale, see K. J. Ratnam, Communalism and the Political Process in Malaya (Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press, 1965), pp. 78–79.