Why are ethnic Chinese still being denied land in Indonesia?

When bicycle seller Willie Sebastian was offered a plot of land by the Indonesian government, little could he have known it was the start of a long and humiliating process that would eventually leave him not only empty-handed but feeling like a second-class citizen in the country of his birth.

As part of a drive to beautify the area around the Prambanan temple complex in Yogyakarta – a site that has welcomed such foreign dignitaries as Barack Obama – the state government had promised Sebastian an 80-metre square plot in return for him agreeing to relocate his store. Ever the good citizen – and optimistic about his prospects in the new area – Sebastian agreed and headed for the land agency in Sleman regency. But when he arrived, the wheels fell off the deal.