Director Guy Jenkin first visited Sarawak in the 1980s and researched the British colonial period extensively. While a "sleeping dictionary" was a brutal system of sexual exploitation of colonized women, Jenkin stated that his inspiration came from a local Iban practice called "Ngayap". In traditional Iban society, unmarried men would court women at night during festivals or after a guest arrived, with consent being a key factor. While this provides a local cultural backdrop for the film's romance, it is important to distinguish this from the term "sleeping dictionary," which was a specific colonial phenomenon.
Upon his arrival, he is introduced to the local tradition of a "sleeping dictionary"—a local woman who sleeps with him to teach him the language and customs of the Iban people. the sleeping dictionary mmsub