WhereIsAtlas · Healthcare

What Happened to Tiger Balm?

A Singapore apothecary's healing ointment conquered Asia and the world - and built an empire that still carries the tiger.

Tiger Balm went from an Aw-brothers apothecary remedy to a global healing staple, and the family fortune it built still thrives today through Haw Par Corporation.

The jar with the tiger

In the 1920s, two brothers - Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par - ran an apothecary in Southeast Asia and made a simple medicinal ointment. They mixed camphor, menthol and other essential oils into a balm meant to soothe muscle aches, headaches and minor pains. It came in a small jar with a leaping tiger painted on it.

The tiger was no accident: the brothers' name, "Aw Boon Haw," evokes a tiger's roar, so the leaping tiger became the brand's symbol. It was a small, unassuming product - and it was about to become one of the most recognised healing balms in Asia.

From apothecary to empire

The ointment caught on quickly, and the brothers grew it into a pharmaceutical and healthcare company. Aw Boon Haw, the more entrepreneurial of the two, invested his proceeds into newspapers - building a press empire - and into property, including the extraordinary Haw Par Villa in Singapore, a sprawling garden park of dioramas depicting Chinese mythology and folklore.

The family's reach extended across Asia, and Tiger Balm became a fixture of medicine cabinets, among the most trusted and affordable remedies of its era.

An enduring brand

A century on, Tiger Balm is still sold in more than a hundred countries, still in its red-and-yellow jar, still a fixture of pharmacies and households. It is now made by Haw Par Corporation, which has expanded into its own branded healthcare products but remains, at its heart, the continuation of the Aw brothers' vision.

The tiger still leaps. Whether soothing a strained muscle in Singapore or a headache in the West, Tiger Balm carries a remarkable legacy: a modest apothecary remedy that grew into a global icon - and a family fortune that built one of the region's great commercial landmarks.

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