Which of these do you know?
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Despite our well-acclaimed (sometimes rigid) education system and world-renowned Changi Airport, Singapore may not necessarily excel when it comes to producing quality brands that perform on the world stage. However, with National Day just around the corner, we did some probing and found some local household names that have gone on to do bigger things beyond this island-state. These brands have muscled their way through the bigger players within their industry to build a name for themselves and simultaneously put Singapore on the world map.
8. Tiger Balm
In the late 1870s, Chinese herbalist Aw Chu Kin left China for Singapore and set up a small medicine shop called Eng Aun Tong to sell his special camphor-based medical ointment also known today as Tiger Balm. It was only after his passing when his two sons, Aw Boon Haw (meaning ‘gentle tiger’) and Aw Boon Par (meaning ‘gentle leopard’) grew the business locally before making headways into surrounding nations of Malaya, Hong Kong, Batavia, Siam and numerous cities in China. The ointment claimed to be based off a 100-year-old formula sells about 50 million globally each year. According to Mr Han Ah Kuan, executive director of Haw Par Corporation which oversees Tiger Balm, despite how stringent European markets are to accepting healthcare products, it did not deter them from actively searching for a reliable distributor in countries like Spain, Italy, Germany and France. Evolving from its age-old traditions with the help of modern innovations, the once medicine shop is now a global lifestyle brand dedicated to helping consumers address any specific symptoms, pains and discomforts.
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