The Tiger balm brand remains today an important local brand and traces its history back to the Aw brothers—Au Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par. Their father, Au Chu Kin was an herbalist who started Eng Aun Tong (the Hall of Everlasting Peace) and passed the product formula to his sons in the early 1900s. The Aw brothers perfected the formula in oil and balm form. The oil form was the original form and was popular in Singapore households from the 1930s onwards.The photograph depicts three visitors to the Tiger Balm gardens (also known as the Haw Par Villa). This villa garden was an entertainment park to teach and preserve traditional Chinese values (such as filial piety) through the exposition of folklore, legends and historical events in the form of tableaux and figurines.
