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4D/Toto/Score

  Tiger Balm ointment is present in more than 70 countries worldwide today. The origins of the formula for Tiger Balm can be traced back to the time of the Chinese emperors when relief for aches and pains was found in natural herbal remedies. One such 'cure all' balm would have died with the dynasties had it not been for a Hakka herbalist in Burma in the 1800s.

  AW Chu Kin, father of Boon Haw and Boon Par, breathed a new life into the ancient recipe. Boon Haw (born 1882) and Boon Par (born 1888) took over their mother's kitchen in Rangoon, Burma, and perfected their late father's recipe. They named the new ointment - Ban Kim Ewe or Ten Thousand Golden Oil, panacea for all ills.

  After World War I, Boon Par added a new compound to Tiger Balm which gave it its dark brown colour, thus giving birth to extra-potent Red Tiger Balm.

  Boon Haw moved to Singapore in 1926 while Boon Par remained in Rangoon. Within seven days he started up shop in a two-storey shophouse in Amoy Street. Soon Singapore became the base for its business in Malaya and the East Indies. He launched a chain of Chinese language newspapers starting with Sin Chew Jit Poh in Singapore in 1929.

  Boon Haw built Haw Par Villa, a mansion on a hill in Pasir Panjang, surrounded by unique gardens depicting Chinese mythology for his younger brother Boon Par in 1937. Also known as Tiger Balm Gardens, it was opened to be enjoyed by the public at no cost. The Tiger Balm Gardens has since been donated to the Singapore Government by the AW family. A similar villa, built in Hongkong, was sold in 1985.

    In 1938, Great Britain's King George VI conferred on AW Boon Haw the OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his "endeavours in commerce and philanthropy". 

  During the Japanese Occupation, Boon Haw was in Hongkong and carried on business from there while Boon Par shut the factory in Singapore and returned to Rangoon where he died in 1944.

  After World War II, Boon Haw returned to Singapore, reopened his factories and newspapers, repaired his homes and gardens. He established the Chung Khiaw Bank in 1950. He placed the management of the bank under the leadership of his son-in-law, LEE Chee Shan. Catering to the banking needs of the wage-earner, Chung Khiaw Bank was often described as "the Small Man's Bank". 

  AW Boon Haw died in 1954, at age 72, from a heart attack on his way to Hongkong via Hawaii following a major operation in Boston.

Source: Legend From A Jar - The Story of Haw Par ISBN 981-00-5927-2