Ambition and identity

"Ambition and Identity forces us to re-examine the processes of identity formation in the modern era. Manila's Chinese elite manipulated the aspirations and prejudices of colonial rulers and the desires of China's government to satisfy their own ambitions and further the security and prosperity of those under their leadership. Rather than having institutions and ethnic distinctions imposed on them by the colonial regime or by Beijing, or simply replicating strategies from their native-places, they demonstrated a subtle hand in constructing the identities that largely defined what it was to be "Chinese" in colonial Manila."--Jacket.