A Kedah harvesting knife
J.A. Baker’s short note describes the pisau penggiau, a distinctive Kedah harvesting implement consisting of a wooden handle with a long hook and an iron blade set on the opposite side, used for cutting padi stalks in conjunction with buffalo threshing.
The article documents the tool’s construction (a 9-inch handle with a 14-inch hook limb), its method of use (gathering stalks with the hook and cutting with a half-turn of the wrist), and its association with the now-rare practice of threshing by buffaloes (irek) (p. 43). Baker traces the etymology of giau to the Siamese kiau and notes that the common Kedah expression for harvesting is kerat padi or potong padi rather than menyabit (p. 44). He further identifies a close parallel in the Philippine lingcao, described by Copeland from Camus’ work, which shares the same hook-and-blade configuration and harvesting technique, suggesting a wider historical distribution of this implement type across the region (p. 44).