Aw Boon Par

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Aw Boon Par

His family was of Hakka descent and his ancestors were from Yongding County in Fujian Province.

This history of the legendary brothers Haw and Par and the origins of their genius trace back to Rangoon (Yangon), Burma, where it all began. Their father, Aw Chu Kin, the young son of a herbalist in Amoy, a west Fukien province, left for Rangoon in the 1800s to seek his fortune.

His first stop was Singapore where he lived for several days in a kongsi house in the Chinese quarter of Telok Ayer Street before leaving for Penang. Rangoon beckoned and soon he was on his way. Aw Chu Kin set up his own Chinese doctor ("sinseh") shop with a little help from his uncle, and Eng Aun Tong, or the Hall of Everlasting Peace, was founded in 1870. Uncle turned matchmaker and a bride was soon found for Aw Chu Kin. Boon Haw, the "gentle tiger" was born in 1882 and Boon Par, the "gentle" leopard" in 1888. ^[1].[1] Tiger and Leopard were dispatched to an English language school where Boon Haw's singular talent was in street fights. The final straw came when he beat up his teacher. Chu Kin bundled off the problem son to China to grandfather's village whilst the less spirited Boon Par stayed put in Rangoon.

In 1908, father Chu Kin died, leaving the family practice to Boon Par, having despaired of Boon Haw's rebel-rousing ways. The gentle leopard, finding the responsibility too much to bear, later asked for his older brother's return from China to carry on the family business in Rangoon.

"I will learn all I can about Western medicine, you can prescribe Chinese medicine," Boon Par said to his brother. "Together we won't lose a single patient. He can choose between east and west and the fee will stay with us."

Haw later migrated to Singapore, where he began the business of Tiger Red Balm with his brother, Aw Boon Haw. On this astute promise the brothers Haw and Par built an empire and a legendary fortune out of a formula for a cure-all ointment sold in a little jar. Today, Tiger Balm is sold in over a hundred countries, arguably the world's best known analgesic ointment. The origins of that formula can be traced back to the time of the Chinese emperors who sought relief for aches and pains from the stresses of court hearings, and the strains of the imperial harem. The balm would have died with the dynasties had it not been for Aw Chu Kin, who breathed new life into the ancient recipe.

His legacy is found in the Haw Par Villas throughout Asia, with locations in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Fujian Province.

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