Established in 1924
Known for: pain-relieving ointment that balances age-old tradition with modern innovations.
Unscrew the signature hexagon jar and the strong aroma of menthol and camphor tickles your nose within seconds. Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that Tiger Balm is an effective solution to alleviate all kinds of pains and aches. You can even use it to clear a blocked nose or to ease the itch of a mosquito bite. Used by everyone from grandparents to young athletes and celebrities – we hear that Lady Gaga is a fan – Tiger Balm is a concoction of essential oils blended with paraffin petrolatum to keep the mixture in a semi-solid at room temperature.
Tiger Balm’s history can be traced back to 19th-century China. Aw Chu Kin was a Chinese herbalist who left for Rangoon in the late 1800s to sell his special ointment. Upon his death in 1908, the business was left to his two sons Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par who then took it to Singapore as Haw Par Corporation Limited.
WHAT’S NEW
Tiger Balm has reached global status and even expanded its line of products with Tiger Balm Active, a range of sports-focused creams. There are also mosquito repellent patches and rubs for muscles strained from using the smartphone.
DID YOU KNOW
The eccentric Haw Par Villa park is the creation of Aw Boon Haw. First opened in 1937 as Tiger Balm Gardens, it features bright, gaudycoloured statues and tableaux that depict scenes from Chinese history and mythology – stories that the Aw brothers grew up with.