Eng Aun Tong Building
_-_img_04.jpg)
Eng Aun Tong Building, also known as Tiger Balm Medical Hall, is a historic building at the corner of Neil Road and Craig Road in Tanjong Pagar, Singapore. Completed in the 1920s, it served as the Tiger Balm factory for several decades.
Description
[edit | edit source]The building was designed in the Neoclassical style, featuring cornices, arches, columns and a hexagonal pavilion on the roof, which may be a reference to the Tiger Balm bottle. It previously featured a model of a tiger on its front.[1] The building is among the few pre-World War II structures in Singapore to feature a flat roof.[2]
History
[edit | edit source]The building was opened as the Tiger Balm factory in 1926 by brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par.[3] Aw Boon Haw soon filed a lawsuit against a medical hall of the same name which had been established earlier at nearby 132-134 Tanjong Pagar Road, demanding that the older business change its name. He lost the charge, and both businesses "went on to co-exist peacefully for years".[4] The building continued to serve as the Tiger Balm factory for around 50 years.[1] On 10 August 1961, a fire in the building resulted in the destruction of $3,000 worth of Chinese medicinal products.[5]
The building was purchased by garment maker Singapore Crocodile in 1973.[6] In 1995, the company leased it to the newly-established French Business Centre, which aimed to support French Small and medium-sized enterprises who were looking to set up in Singapore, until 2000.[4][7] In July 1997, Singapore Crocodile put the property up for sale with an asking price of $22 million.[6] However, the company withdrew the sale as a result of the "depressed property market".[8] In 2007, PayPal moved into the building.[9] In this period, the building also housed eBay and Skype.[10] On 4 December 2019, American fast casual chain Shake Shack announced that it would be opening its second Singaporean outlet in the building.[11] The outlet opened on 7 February 2020, occupying the building's ground floor.[12]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).