Professor Jomo Kwame Sundaram is a prominent Malaysian economist, academic, and public intellectual known for his extensive work in development economics and social justice. He has produced important scholarship on Malaysia's political economy, influenced discourse during the Asian financial crisis and even worked with the UN.

This year, he was honoured at the Merdeka Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement.

In this episode we have a conversation with Prof Jomo about his childhood, family, journey in academia and public service, meeting the King of Thailand while catching worms in a drain, and more.

The Merdeka Award was established in 2007 and aims to recognise and reward exceptional citizens and organisations who have made outstanding contributions in their respective fields to the people of Malaysia.