Aw Boon Par
Aw Boon-Par (Chinese: 胡文豹; pinyin: Hú Wénbào; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hô͘ Bûn-pà; 1888 in Yangon, Indian Empire – 1944 in Yangon, British Burma) was a Burmese Chinese entrepreneur and philanthropist best known for introducing Tiger Balm.
Aw Boon Par | |
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胡文豹 | |
Born | 1888 Rangoon, British Burma |
Died | 1944 56) Rangoon, British Burma | (aged
Nationality | Singaporean |
Occupation | entrepreneur |
Board member of | Eng Aun Tong |
Spouse(s) | Piah Lan Daw Saw Hong Yin |
Children | Aw Cheng Chye (Son) Aw Cheng Taik (Son) Aw Cheng Sim (Daughter) Aw Cheng Hu (Daughter) |
Parent(s) | Aw Chu Kin (Father) |
Relatives | Aw Boon Leng (Eldest Brother) Aw Boon Haw (Second Brother) |
He was a son of Hakka herbalist Aw Chu-Kin.[1][2] His father left the business to Boon-Par and after Aw Chu-Kin's death in 1908, he called his elder brother Aw Boon-Haw to run his father's apothecary, Eng Aun Tong ("The Hall of Eternal Peace") together.
Although Aw wished to stay in Yangon, his brother who had settled in Singapore[3] in 1926 convinced him to immigrate, move the family business, and found the precursor of today's Haw Par Corporation. During the Japanese occupation of Singapore, Boon-Haw moved to Hong Kong to manage the business from there, while Boon-Par stayed in Singapore to run the factory. Eventually, Aw closed the factory down, returned to Rangoon, and died there.
Notes
- Beverland, Michael (2009) Building Brand Authenticity: 7 Habits of Iconic Brands Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, page 91, ISBN 978-0-230-58031-2
- Temporal, Paul (2006) Asia's star brands Wiley, Singapore, page 116, ISBN 0-470-82156-6
- Go, Simon (2003) Hong Kong apothecary: a visual history of Chinese medicine packaging Princeton Architectural Press, New York, page 198, ISBN 1-56898-390-5