ABSTRACT
In former days the most important duty of the pawang padi was to determine the correct time for commencing padi planting operations. It is, of course, impossible for Malay agriculturists to make use of their calendar of twelve lunar months for the purposes of a calling that is intimately connected with the changes of the seasons. In Perak and Kedah it appears to be customary in most of the rice-growing districts to ascertain the correct time for beginning agricultural operations by observation of the Pleiades. As soon as the nurseries have been sown all energy is concentrated on the preparation of the fields for the reception of the seedlings and on repairing of fences and water-courses. When the fields have been prepared and the water-courses and fencing attended to, the women begin to plant out the seedlings. From the time when the water is run off the fields there is ample work to occupy everyone in making preparation for harvest.
