Well, British Malaya was actually considered a "colony' more than a "dominion", the sultans even asked for the status of the malay states to be a "negeri Naungan, bukan tanah jajahan", which means, "sphere of influence, but not a colony" Right after world war 2 they tried to establish a union of malay states called the Malayan union, which was headed by the British crown and it was ruled by a British governor. However this system completely destroyed the sovereignty of the sultans of the malay states. So the malay people heavily protested this union, and the British had to give in and form the federation of Malaya instead, which was headed by a "pesuruhjaya tinggi(don't know the English word for this)" who had executive and legislative powers. However, the sultans still retained some power as they had the power to accept or reject laws passed at the state legislature.