In the Turco-Tartar dialect a heath is called tala or tschol.

Samoa's foreign debt reached the billion tala mark late last year according to a report.

Toddy is likewise procured from the lontar or Borassus flabellifer, the tala of the Hindus.

And in the end, the lawyers walk away as winners pocketing thousands of tala in legal fees, he said.

According to the Samoa Observer, the journalist could be heard during his livestream report offering a police officer 20 tala.

The water is being sold for 1 tala a litre, about 60 New Zealand cents.

According to the Samoa Observer, this represents about two billion tala of funds sent through companies registered as offshore companies in Samoa.

On the introduction and rapid spread of Christianity many said, "The prediction of Ave i le tala has come true."

Our correspondent said few Samoans have seen the manumea, apart from its depiction on the country's twenty tala note and 50 sene coin.

A Samoan village council has introduced a fine of 1,000 tala on women who beat up their husbands.

There will be a minimum fine of 50 tala per violation and vehicles which violate the parking meter laws are liable to be towed.

Failing to adhere to the orders can attract fines of up to US$3,400 ($10,000 tala) or two years imprisonment.

He was initially fined 5,000 tala or $US1,893 for defying a village matai council decision to support a different candidate.

Chinese loans account for almost 40% of Samoa's total external debt of 1.05 billion tala ($386.5 million) making Beijing easily its single biggest creditor.

Another Chinese national is facing charges of trying to export a container of banned sea slugs worth an estimated 3.6 million US dollars ($10million tala).

However, there were cultural and technical challenges facing the researchers with Tala.