[8] He remained in Asia, and spent most of his working life teaching medical students in Social Medicine & Public Health in Singapore and researching disease patterns in tribal peoples in Malaya.
He used the Department's 16 mm camera to film the way of life and environment of Malayan Tribes,[4] and later of the Muruts of North Borneo[9] (Sabah).
The Government there had asked him to inquire into the apparent depopulation of the Interior Tribes, and he started the work by doing extensive disease surveys of Longhouse populations.
[10] In 1955, Polunin returned to England and showed some of his footage to the BBC which then ran only a single Black and White TV station.
From then until 1973 Polunin created a small amount of television footage each year, by shooting silent colour film and then recording a separate narration.
[11] and Seven League Boots[11] Polunin authored texts on botany including the Plants & Flowers of Singapore[12] and a counterpart edition on Malaysia.