Handy Phrases for your Visit to Borneo

Phrases you are likely to need in Borneo, to judge from a phrasebook distributed in 1966 by the Borneo Literature Bureau:

• Wait while I remove these leeches.


• I have been bitten by sand flies.


• There are too many rats.


• There are a lot of mosquitoes here.


• The cockroaches have eaten my shirt.


• Is this poisonous?


• What made that noise?


• Is Sibu Laut in a swamp?


• Is there a taboo on your house?


• Is the burning finished?


• Where can I defecate?


• Is that fish dangerous?


• This floor is not safe.


• The roof is leaking.


• There is no room in this boat.


• We must keep dry.


• I can't come for a time because the monsoon will soon start.


• She has a bad pain/snakebite/gunshot wound.


• Tear some clean cloth into strips.


• Keep him warm.


• Go quickly for help.


• This vomiting needs urgent treatment.


• I do not know what is wrong. You must take her to the clinic.


• Your eyes need treatment, or you will become blind.