In A Sketch of Malayan Mining, published in 1928, Geologist to the Federated Malay States John B. Scrivenor reminisced about the ‘heyday of the pawang’. During those ‘palmy days’ of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was considered ‘fatal to not consult the pawang’ before mining for tin or gold. The ubiquitous pawangs worked as prospectors and were known to be adept at locating, excavating and smelting tin ore. They were also mediums for the spirits that guarded tin and gold deposits.