Elisabeth Wiliam is thrilled to be back in the classroom. In front of her hangs a large flat screen television connected to a small modem. A camera sits on top.

THE Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA) is located deep in the cool, bursting-green surrounds of Ubud, Bali. Founded by Agung Rai, an Ubud-born painter, the ARMA compound is dotted with ponds, fountains, flowerbeds, paddyfieldsand even an herb garden.

From October through February, Arfah Arifin, 40, often comes home empty-handed. Like other fisherwomen in Perlis hamlet, Langkat regency, North Sumatra province, she has to work side jobs just to make ends meetsometimes that means serving food to students at the elementary school, other times it means watering nurseries.

Soon after Joko Widodo was elected president, he declared food self-sufficiency to be one of his priorities. Tens of thousands of tractors were bought and distributed to farmers and a large budget was allocated to subsidize seeds and fertilizers. Indonesia is one of the world's top rice consuming country and a net importer of the staple. The President stressed that the nation must achieve food security within three years.

One needs never be afraid to create new designs and motifs, exhorted Musa Widjatmodjo, 50, at a workshop held as part of the Flobamora Fashion Festival in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), last December. The event was attended by scores of weavers and designers from all over the NTT province. Many wanted to learn how to turn woven cloth into fashion garments.

A group of 50 men and women form a line, sitting crossed-legged, their hands on their chests. They are all wearing black and white. I Wayan Wirasa, 46, is among those assembled at the Seruling Dewata Silat School in Tabanan, Bali, two weeks ago. "We have to regulate our breathing before we practice the moves," he told Tempo after the training.