Global Voices » East Asia

Myanmar: Protest Against Power Shortage

Chan Myae Khine — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:58:33 +0000

CJMyanmar uploaded photos of the protest against the electricity shortage in Mandalay, the second largest city of Myanmar. Hundreds who joined the activity lighted candles and peacefully protested in front of the government office of Electricity Supply and Chinese Embassy.

Philippines, China: Scarborough Shoal Dispute Goes Online

Mong Palatino — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:44:33 +0000

Scarborough Shoal located in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea is being claimed by three countries: China, Philippines, and Taiwan. Tension rose in the past month between the Philippines and China when the governments of the two nations accused each other of illegally occupying the territorial waters near the shoal. It sparked nationalist sentiments in both countries and the ‘word war’ has gone online.

Filipino netizens shared this Google Map of Scarborough Shoal to highlight its proximity to the Philippines

Below are some social media reactions from the Philippines

@redsohigh In terms of bullying and intimidation. Wala tayong laban sa China in terms of owning Panatag Shoal. Susme. Isang nuclear lang tayo.

@redsohigh In terms of bullying and intimidation. We can’t defeat China in terms of owning Panatag Shoal (Philippine name for Scarborough). Gosh. We are an easy nuclear target.

‏@SoWhatsNews China has caught all the fish in Panatag Shoal hence the stoppage and the fishing ban. Sweet n Sour Fish Fillet mabenta ngayon sa China.

@SoWhatsNews China has caught all the fish in Panatag Shoal hence the stoppage and the fishing ban. Sweet n Sour Fish Fillet is selling well today in China.

Perhaps to ease tension, both the Philippines and China have imposed a fishing ban in the contested area.

‏@roilogolez It is unpatriotic for a Filipino to publicly express an opinion on the Panatag Shoal stand-off contrary to the government position.

@crystalbrosas Scarborough Shoal and Spratlys Islands are for the Philippines. MAAWA NAMAN KAYO SA BANSA NAMIN, Kahit may lahi akong Chinese. -_-

@crystalbrosas Scarborough Shoal and Spratlys Islands are for the Philippines. HAVE MERCY ON OUR COUNTRY. Even if I have Chinese lineage. -_-

Bigger than Scarborough, the Spratly issue is more controversial and potentially more dangerous since 6 countries in the Asia-Pacific are claiming the resource-rich islands.

Miko Lucena Call it desperate to regain economic strength. With the cost of labor rising they need another source of income, preferably what the world needs, oil.

Roselyne Bairan Cua Ang laki laki ng china,pinagkaka interesan ang atin maliliit na isla. They should just stay away from our islands and focus on their own problem. Palibasa alam nila wala tayong military warfare. Dinaadaan tayo sa sindak. Takot naman sila sa FB.

Roselyne Bairan Cua China is so big already yet it’s still interested in our small islands. They should just stay away from our islands and focus on their own problem. Maybe they know we don’t have military warfare. They are bullying us. Yet they are afraid of Facebook.

Ed Dalisay China has a bigger problem at home. Their economy is falling and it is not that rosy as it seems to be. Leaders will always find distraction so that the people will rally behind them. One way is to wedge war against a small nation that they can easily bully. History is littered with this familiar story. This is what Bush did when he declared war against Iraq because he is becoming unpopular at home.

Joseph Corpuz We may not be strong as China in terms of military but we can be strong economically if only we get our act together, if they don't want our exports then let's look to other countries and we must be self-reliant we can do this.

Scarborough is rich with marine resources. Photo of giant clams confiscated from fishermen in the area. Photo by @karadavid

Rieya Piscano comments on the ongoing ‘cyberwar’ between nationalist netizens of the two countries

Clearly, the internet has leveled the playing field even in political conflicts like the Scarborough Standoff. It has made both parties bolder in expressing their opinions toward the matter. Some, all in 140 characters. Hacking has also become a showcase of nationalism and political posts of young bloggers underline the new heights reached by cyberactivism. Crazy as it sounds, people would go out of their way to plot maps and photoshop pictures just to prove their point. It is not just a word war. It is a “meme” war and we are all “liking” it.

Hackers who attacked the website of a Philippine university left this message: "We come from China. Huangyan Island is ours"

The president of the University of the Philippines issued this statement after hackers defaced the university website

Hacking selected websites at the suspected country of the hacker or hackers does not objectively articulate any political issue and only subjectively fulfills a personal desire to “get even”

…we also call on the concerned technology-savvy Filipinos to stop hacking other websites, particularly those from China. Filipinos are more sensible than this, and our expertise is better used in productive endeavors.

Carol P. Araullo advises the Aquino government to resolve the issue without inviting US military intervention

…would it not be the better part of political wisdom, more so statesmanship, for the Aquino administration to seriously study and issue a rational and sober reply to the points raised by China rather than brandish the Philippines military alliance with the US to act as a counterfoil to China’s military strength and to make up for the Philippines’ military inferiority?

It also serves no purpose to keep whipping up pseudo-patriotic and ultra-nationalist sentiments against China and things Chinese.

South Korea: Police Question Influential Podcasters for Campaign Violations

Lee Yoo Eun — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:18:57 +0000

One of South Korea's most influential podcasters was summoned for questioning last week over alleged illegal campaign activities, igniting heated debates and discussions online. Kim Eo-joon, head of an activist Internet newspaper and one of four hosts of the nation's most popular podcast ‘I am a petty-minded creep', which lampoons the country's president and governing ruling party, was charged with violating election laws by holding eight rallies in a public place.

Another host of the podcast show, investigative reporter Joo Jin-woo, was also summoned for questioning [ko] on May 18, 2012. While there are some net users expressing that the investigation is justified, a majority of Twitter users have defended Kim and accused police of unfairly summoning him while condoning other major political heavyweights responsible for similar remarks and campaign activities.

Image of the four hosts of the show, From left - Kim Eo-jun, Chung Bong-ju, Kim Yong-min and Ju Jin-woo, Naggomsu team from Naggomsu Daum Cafe holds the copyrights, Used under permission.

Kim Sang-ho (@sinbi2010) tweeted [ko]:

김어준 “선거법 위반 혐의로 소환하는 것은 권력과 자본의 집단 광기에 불과하다. [수 없이 많은 이명박의 비리와 선관위 비리 부정 선거 등은 미혼적 수사하면서 선거 독려 했다는 이유로 수사하는 것은 미친짓이며 누구에게도 이롭지 않는 처사다.

Summoning Kim Eo-joon over violation of election laws is just a craziness of political and financial powers. The police was so tacit when investigating the president's corruption scandals and the election commission's election fraud cases. It is just ridiculous that the police question Kim just because he ‘encouraged voting'. This kind of police action is beneficial to no one.

Twitter user @shanti reminded people of the similar treatment [ko] of Chung Bong-ju, one of the four co-hosts of the show, who was sentenced to a jail term over defamation charges for raising allegations that the president was involved in stock fraud.

The verdict was accused by many as politically motivated, but Park Geun-hye, the governing party’s strongest presidential candidate who made similar remarks on the fraud cases, has gone unscathed:

박근혜 BBK 발언 결국 무혐의 처분되었다. 봉주는 감옥에가고 그네는 무죄다.김어준 삼두노출은 선거법위반 조사 받고 그네 쌍두노출은 우연의 산물이라 무죄다.대한민국 만인 앞에 법이 평등한 법치국가 맞는가?

Park Geun-hye's BBK [company name] remarks [remarks on the current president's stock price manipulation allegations] were eventually acquitted. Bong-ju was jailed while Geun-hye was cleared of charges. Kim Eo-joon's ‘Three Heads Exposure' was being investigated over election law violation while Geun-hye's ‘Two Heads Exposure' is not-guilty. Are we living in a country where everybody is equal under the law? [The Three Head Exposure refers to an incident in which three hosts of the show made what is believed to have been an accidental appearance while one host ran as a candidate. It was interpreted as breaking the election law by showing support to certain candidate. Park Geun-hye made a similar public appearance while a candidate from her party campaigned for the April election]

Twitter user @badasok, referencing Kim's answers to the questions [ko] on whether he thinks himself as guilty, argued [ko]:

김어준 총수 ‘선거에는 최대한 많은 사람이 참여해야 한다고 본다'며 ‘제가 한 일은 그런 정신에 부합한다' =>민주주의한다면서 선거하라고 했다고 잡아가는 정권은 세상천지에 없죠.정치검찰과 낙하산 선관위원들.. 이게 민주주의입니까?

Kim said “I believe as many as people should participate in the election' and added ‘what I did (during the campaign) corresponds to the spirit of election.” There is no such democratic government in the world as ours who detain people for (encouraging) voting. When I look at these politicized prosecutors and parachute election commission people [the ‘parachute' refers to people who were assigned to the post by someone ‘higher'], it makes me doubt whether we are living in a democratic country.

Another Twitter user (@__hope_) criticized [ko] the police for probing the hosts of the show who have unearthed numerous political scandals of the ruling party and the president, and even made an investigative report on the election fraud. It is also ironic that it was none other than the election commission who requested the investigation.

[…]10.26 로그기록,박근혜 선루프 차 조사 등. 경찰이 해야 할 일들을 한 나꼼수에게 부끄럽지 않은가. 김어준 앞에서 고개 들 수 있는가. 우리는 경찰 앞에 선 김어준이 자랑스럽다.

[…] (Revelation on) the Oct 26 Election site log file and the coverage on Park Guen-hye's [campaign activities] through a [car] sun-roof… You police - are you not ashamed by ‘Naggomsu' [Korean acronym for ‘I am a petty-minded creep'] who have done all the work that you should have done? Will you be able to stare straight into their faces? We are proud of Kim Eo-joon who boldly stood in front of the police.

However, there were some divided responses online. Some net users from Daum Agora [ko], the nation's biggest public forum, criticized the hosts of the show for “creating public commotions”. Net user ID:Doctor K wrote [ko]:

아무리 나꼼수가 처음엔 스스로 마이너적인 해적방송을 지향했다고 해도 지금 나꼼수는 그들이 비판하던 권력 그 자체가 되었고 스스로 그 권력을 즐기고 있다고 해도 과언이 아니다. 이번 선거에서 김용민 파문에서도 볼 수 있듯 나꼼수가 적극적으로 ‘김용민 구하기'에 나서면서 국민의 뜻은 안중에도 없지 않았던가. 그들을 따르는 지지자들의 환호에만 귀기울일 뿐.

Naggomsu started as a media effort representing minority opinions and guerilla broadcast and it still aims to be seen that way. However, it has now become the power figure which it used to criticize. They [hosts of the show] are even enjoying the perks of power. As we can see from the Kim Yong-min scandal during the recent election [referring to some abusive comments made by one of the hosts], they were only focused in salvaging their own member rather than paying attention to what people really care about. They only listen to their supporters' praise of them.

Net user ID:진보는없다 adviced [ko] the show to lose its aggressiveness:

잘 새겨들어서 우리의 생각만 옳고 우리만 정의로우니 우리는 이 길을 가야한다는 생각 버리길 바란다. 같은 길을 간다고 해도 지혜롭게 덕스럽게 가는 길을 택해보기 바란다.

Wish they bear this in mind - please drop the idea that they are the only one who are right and just, so they would continue to walk this way. You can still take the same path while acting wisely and virtuously.

As the multiple probes made national headlines throughout this week, some criticism fell on conservative mainstream media. Lee Myung-hyun (@thezoker) tweeted [ko]:

조중동에게 김어준이 정말로 선거법을 위반했느냐 아니냐는 별로 중요하지 않죠. 그냥 경찰에 출두했다는 사실과 출두하는 그 그림만이 중요할 겁니다. […] 죄의 유무를 떠나 국민들에게 마치 죄가 있는 것 같은 인상을 주면 되는 거죠.

To Chosun, Joongang and Donga [the nation's three major right-wing newspapers], the fact whether Kim Eo-joon really violated the election laws doesn't matter that much. What matters to them is the fact that Kim was being summoned by police and the scene showing Kim being summoned […] Regardless of the guiltiness, if all these scenes give the public the impression that Kim has done something wrong, it is fine with those newspapers.

Thailand: Red Shirts Back in the Streets

Mong Palatino — Mon, 21 May 2012 01:02:38 +0000

On May 19, 2012, tens of thousands of Red Shirt protesters commemorated the second anniversary of the army and police crackdown on anti-government protesters in central Bangkok, Thailand. The May 2010 street violence resulted in the deaths of more than 90 people. Many Red Shirt members are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted by a coup in 2006.

The violent dispersal of the Red Shirt protest contributed to the unpopularity of the government in 2010 which was at that time headed by Abhisit Vejjajiva. Abhisit’s party lost in the elections last year. Thailand’s incumbent Prime Minister is the younger sister of Thaksin.

Photos of the event last Saturday are available on Facebook and Flickr. Here are some photos:

Thousands attended Red Shirt rally in Bangkok. Photo from @RichardBarrow

Red Shirts rally. Photo from Facebook page of Richard Barrow

Red Shirts demand justice. Photo from Facebook page of Richard Barrow

Red Shirts program in the evening. Photo from @aleursic

A video clip of Robert Amsterdam’s speech during the rally. Amsterdam is the lawyer of Thaksin. Some netizens are critical to the activities of the Red Shirts:

@Rom Senakant: sad group of people… They thought they are fighting for just cause but actually they are the being used by a crony ex PM Thaksin or Thug-Sin

@ric_lawes: Reds calling for Justice http://bit.ly/Jv8Ien - simple fact - reds lay siege to the city and 91 people died. No reds no deaths.

@Agam_T: Today, I'm celebrating 2nd anniversary of the END of #RedShirts arson and violence. May19th was the day we got our city back.

Thaksin’s appeal for unity is interpreted by some people as betrayal to the cause of the Red Shirts who are still demanding justice for those who were killed in 2010:

@freakingcat: Are the Red shirts in Ratchprasong so brainwashed and cheered to Thaksin's betrayal speech. 93 died for the greed of the billionaire

@steviegell: Both Thaksin & his sister turned their backs on the red movement. Robert Amsterdam is trying to hide that fact from the reds. Bad form.

Tammy attended the rally and commented about the lack of change in Thailand’s politics:

I just got back from the 2 year anniversary of the crack-down on the Red Shirts protest at Rajprasong, that 2 years ago caused bout 100 civilian death

The new constitution is poised to disappoint those who are looking for democracy, the lese majeste law, the root cause, of many injustices in Thailand, will likely be the same. The death and imprisonment of political prisoners, looks like it will be un-accounted for and not re-solved.

Meanwhile, a government investigation body concluded that state forces are responsible for the deaths of 25 people in the 2010 crackdown.

Cambodia: Teenager Killed During Eviction

Mong Palatino — Sun, 20 May 2012 10:32:41 +0000

A 14-year old girl was killed when police forces evicted a rural village in Cambodia. The case highlights the growing land disputes in the country and the use of violence by government forces to stifle dissent

Southeast Asia: ASEAN Committee on Consumer Protection Website

Mong Palatino — Sun, 20 May 2012 09:33:49 +0000

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations committee on consumer protection has launched a website to inform consumers in the region regarding banned or recalled products.

East Timor: New President takes office

Janet Gunter — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:19:17 +0000

Taur Matan Ruak, East Timor's new president, was sworn in today, on the eve of the celebration of 10 years of independence since the UN transition from Indonesian rule. CJITL shared his inaugural speech [Tet], in which he emphasized the need to diversify the country's oil-dependent economy.

The Future of Sino-US Relations: Ask Andrew Nathan

Andy Yee — Sat, 19 May 2012 17:28:33 +0000

Xiaomi (twitter: xiaomi2020) is organizing an interview with Andrew Nathan, an internationally renowned expert on US-China relations from Columbia University. Submit a question or vote on a question that's already been asked here. Xiaomi is one of the organizers of Yizhe, a group which translates western journalism on China.

North Korea Denies GPS Jamming

Lee Yoo Eun — Sat, 19 May 2012 04:59:18 +0000

North Korea denied that it jammed Global Positioning System (GPS) signals in the border area between North and South Korea which has caused inconvenience to commercial aviation flights. North Korea Tech blog wrote an analysis on the jamming which South Korean media have reported as coming from North Korea.

Video: Capacity Building in Rising Voices Media Training

Juliana Rincón Parra — Fri, 18 May 2012 23:31:39 +0000

In the border between Burma and Thailand, the Rising Voices grantee project Karen Border News has launched their audio podcast workshop. In this short film, the students of the radio journalism course speak about their experience.

From their Blog post:

During this first round of training, we focused on four topics: news writing, audio recording & editing, and broadcast. It’s been really exciting watching these students improve their skills, and learn entirely new ways to tell their stories. While KSNG’s media staff runs most of the trainings, we also invited two specialist, Aung Nai, who works for Internews and Jack Chance, an experienced radio producer and media trainer. In addition to the workshops, we are also distributing some media equipment to students, including notebooks, media guidebooks, and audio recorders.

On a past blog entry, the Karen Border News blog explains the importance of their efforts in the context of the Ceasefire talks between the Myanmar government and the Karen National Union:

Most Karen cautiously welcome the ceasefire agreement, but there is much concern for how reconciliation will affect the Karen population, especially with so many of our people now living outside of our traditional homeland in Karen State

Rising Voices is an outreach initiative of Global Voices, aimed to helping to bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the global conversations on the web by providing resources and funding to local groups working with underrepresented communities. The Karen Border News is one of the 2012 Rising Voices Grantees.

Myanmar: Two Citizen Media Sites Launched

Chan Myae Khine — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:52:04 +0000

Two citizen media sites, Won Thar Nu and Myanmar Netizens were recently launched in Myanmar to provide global readers with news events, citizen media information, and other stories from Myanmar.

China, Singapore: Reaction on Ferrari Crash

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:57:00 +0000

Recently a rich Mainland Chinese man killed three persons (including himself) in a Ferrari car crash in Singapore because of drunk driving. The incident has resulted in anti mainland Chinese sentiment in Singapore, Peter Barefoot from ChinaSMACK translated netizens' reaction from China.

Indonesia: Lady Gaga's Concert Permit Denied

Carolina Rumuat — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:33:01 +0000

After being pressured by conservative politicians and hardline groups, which branded Lady Gaga as a devil worshiper, the Indonesian police announced that it won't issue a permit to the highly anticipated Lady Gaga concert in Jakarta, leaving over 50,000 fans disappointed.

@HeyPotterhead: Lady Gaga's concert better not be cancelled. I did NOT fell in line for 8 hours for nothing! Stupid FPI #IndonesiaSavesGaga #BTWBallGBK

FPI or the Islamic Defenders Front is an influential religious group which often campaigns against ‘anti-Islamic' activities and ideas. In this particular case, Lady Gaga was accused of corrupting the morality of young Indonesians.

One of the promotional merchandise items of the Lady Gaga concert. From the twitpic page of @youngdancers

Lady Gaga fans, who were called ‘little monsters', have criticized the government's decision:

@ginaignasia: Apa hak nya. Gue yang nabung&cari calo susah2, nyekal2 seenaknya. #IndonesiaSavesGaga #GagaIsAmazing #monsterpower #BurnFPIdown

@ginaignasia: What right do they have. I'm the one who have been saving up; looking hard for scalpers, then you suddenly ban the concert.

@akibaryou: Save Mother Monster! Save the freedom of expression! The cancellation is proof of how our country has lost its priority.#IndonesiaSavesGaga!

@Ray_owl: FPI is embarrassing Indonesia internationally! #IndonesiaSavesGaga RT @lanaaisya: FPI is being a hypocrite. #saveladygaga

@NickyYuventius: Yang bikin gue bingung adalah polisi yg beralasan gaga itu porno. APA KABAR KONSER DANGDUT? PREEEET!

@NickyYuventius: What I found odd was the police giving an excuse saying that Gaga (act) is pornographic. What about dangdut concerts?

Dangdut, an Indian influenced folk music, is very popular in Indonesia. The dance moves of Dangdut performers are oftentimes sexy and erotic.

Meanwhile, the Christian Indonesian Church Council (PGI) supported the concert arguing that it's a part of the country's freedom of expression.

Not all politicians found Lady Gaga's performance racy. Lawmaker Ahmad Basarah, who is a Muslim, told newspaper The Jakarta Globe that the national police should be fair when it comes to protecting the nation's values, whether it's against liberal-capitalistic ideas or Middle Eastern ideologies.

Here are more reactions on Twitter:

@danielvk: Religious mafia manipulates democracy & freedom to rob the freedom of others. Don't tolerate intolerance! #saynotohate #indonesiasavesgaga

@DanielZiv: It's not a matter of #IndonesiaSavesGaga, it's more like whether Gaga can save Indonesia.And really, Indonesia needs to save itself from this extremist nonsense, Gaga or no Gaga.

Singapore: Importance of the Hougang By-Election

Kirsten Han — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:15:17 +0000

After Singapore's Worker's Party expelled its member – and Member of Parliament for Hougang Single Member Constituency (SMC) – Yaw Shin Leong, earlier this year, the residents of Hougang have not been represented by an MP. Come 26 May, 2012, they will have the opportunity to elect another.

A writ of election has been issued, naming 16 May as Nomination Day, with Polling Day to follow ten days later. Both the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and the Worker's Party quickly announced their nominated candidates: Desmond Choo for the former and Png Eng Huat for the latter. Although this can only be confirmed on Nomination Day, it is likely that there will not be a multi-cornered fight in the by-election.

Choo contested Hougang SMC in the 2011 General Election, losing to Yaw. Png stood as a candidate in Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) during the 2011 General Election.

Hougang By-Election. Photo from The Online Citizen

WK writes in The Blue Sweater that the Hougang by-election could be used as a litmus test of Singaporean's support for the PAP – the party which won majority of the votes in 2011 General Election, as it has every elections since 1959:

One might question the fairness and objectivity of using an opposition stronghold as a litmus test, but the results will demonstrate whether the government's promises for change following the previous election has been acknowledged. If the WP wins by a wide (or even wider) margin, it demonstrates that there is a fundamental rejection of the PAP's governing philosophy. Not to mention that this is an election that the whole country is watching. The results matter as much to the residents of Hougang as it is to us.

In response to comments made by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam – who said that the by-election would solely be on local issues rather than national policy – Jackson Tan points out that Singapore is too small for elections to only focus on local issues, and that Hougang voters are affected by the same policies as the rest of Singapore:

…given the fact that Singapore is really a ‘small red dot,’ even by-elections on a constituency level can be viewed as a national election. This is because elections don’t come often (in fact, it’s once every five years or so), thus the chance to vote may indicate voters even consider national issues such as public transport, education and costs of living. In addition, the extent to which policies by the ruling party affects people cuts across all constituencies, be it GRCs or SMCs. The ongoing train breakdowns, for example, also affect Hougang residents, thus it is definite that they take it into consideration when voting. Perhaps the term ‘local election’ is more appropriate in bigger countries such as the US where states are governed differently.

On Twitter, H.Y. agrees:

@tanhuiyi: I don't see the logic of #HougangByelection focusing solely on local issues. Local issues are related to national issues. No?

A publichouse.sg editorial predicts that the Worker's Party will be able to hold on to Hougang, as it has done for over 20 years:

The PAP thus faces a daunting task of trying to reverse at least 15% of the vote in Hougang in order to wrestle it back from the WP. Even if the PAP sent out its big guns ministers to the ground to canvass for its likely candidate, Mr Desmond Choo, they would not carry much weight, especially in the prevailing political climate. In fact, the ministers themselves are seen as the causes of the ills which Singaporeans perceive in matters such as housing, jobs, wages, and the frequent breakdowns of the transport system.

The PAP’s battle encompasses a wider national sentiment of unhappiness with these bread and butter issues. One would think that it is no different in Hougang, and the WP can be expected to play these up to deflect attention from the Yaw saga.

…

It would thus seem that the WP will have a relatively comfortable victory in Hougang, its integrity intact.

Some Singaporeans are distrustful of the state-owned mainstream media's coverage of the by-election:

@sochris: and so the propaganda starts #HougangByElection

A photo posted by Channel NewsAsia, a mainstream media network has gone viral, shared by Singaporeans who found it hilariously ironic:

@mrbrown: PAP's tagline for #hougangbyelection is “Always Here for You”. This CNA photo captures it.

China: Motor-Powered Breakfast Crepes

Juliana Rincón Parra — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:28:50 +0000

The Presurfer shares a video where we can see how the Beijing Jianbing is made. This large breakfast crepe is made possible thanks to a very steady hand and a motorized wheel that allows a really large and thin crepe to be evenly cooked.