 The colonial government began issuing identity cards again in 1948 to counter the communist insurgency.The desire to limit the entry of those who might have communist sympathies extended to the creation of a new Immigration Bill in 1950.When Singapore merged with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to form the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, immigration came under the jurisdiction of the federal government and the Immigration Department became a federal agency in Kuala Lumpur.