North Borneo Self-government Day is a self-government day celebrated on 31 August every year by the state of Sabah in Malaysia. Only since 2012, the holiday has been received widely by the Sabah state government and the citizen of Sabah as the Hari Merdeka was not the right celebration day for the state. While North Borneo Self-government Day is often referred to as 'Independence Day', this is strictly speaking incorrect, since British legislation on North Borneo's self-government did not provide for its independence prior to it joining the federation of Malaysia.