Malaysian writer to speak about Islam in Southeast Asia, Dec. 11

Karim Raslan, a lawyer and writer from Malaysia, will give an address titled "Kuala Lumpur Is Not Kabul: Militants and Tolerance in the Asian Core of the Muslim World" on Tuesday, Dec. 11. The talk, part of the Southeast Asia Lecture Series, will begin at 4:30 p.m. in 4 Friend Center.

Raslan is the senior partner of Raslan Loong, a corporate law firm in Kuala Lumpur. He is also the author of "Ceritalah: Malaysia in Transition" (1996), and he writes a fortnightly syndicated column, "Eye in Asia," published by major newspapers in Asia. As a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University this year, Raslan is working on a project on "Freedom of Expression in Islamic Societies."

Raslan's lecture is sponsored by the Center of International Studies , the Department of Politics , the Council on Regional Studies, the Southeast Asia Students Organization, Foreign Policy in Focus and the International Center .