They were also uncomfortable about the merger of the Straits Settlements with Malaya, as they did not feel a sense of belonging to what they considered a "Malaya for the Malays", where they were not considered "bumiputra" ("sons of the soil"). One Straits Chinese leader indignantly declared, "I can claim to be more "anak Pulau Pinang" son of Penang than 99 per cent of the Malays living here today." The secessionist movement eventually petered out, however, because of the government's stout refusal to entertain the idea of Penang seceding from the Federation.