| Written by Sophan Seng | |
| Thursday, 09 October 2008 |
Dear Editor,
It’s just the same song with different melodies. The change of world politics from barbarianism, to colonialism and to contemporary neo-liberal globalism lie on the same latitude: the strong exploit the weak. The change is just moving from explicit exploitation to implicit exploitation.
Civil society has become institutionalised; many rich countries have created their aid agencies to support other poorer countries.
Some aid has strings attached, some does not; but both are for the benefits of the donors primarily.
Aid is good for Cambodia. It is also good for donors because they can earn respect and business profits.
Japan’s aid to build bridges or pave roads is good for Cambodian people to commute easily, and it is also good for Japanese automobile companies to increase their sales of vehicles.