Aw Boon Haw, the Tiger Balm magnate, is dead. A couple of months ago, Mr. Aw underwent a major operation in , which was apparently very successful. On his way back, however, he fell sick again and had to enter a hospital in , where he suddenly passed away following a second operation. In the death of Aw Boon Haw the overseas, Chinese have lost a prominent leader and a great philanthropist, and it is as a philanthropist that Mr. Aw will be remembered by his friends and admirers for many years to come. Mr. Aw made his fortune through the sales of his Tiger Balm, which in Chinese is called Wan Chin Yu, meaning "Ten-Thousand-Dollar Ointment." Although there are people who do not think much of the medicinal qualities of the Tiger Balm, the fact remains that it does have curative effects in the treatment of such minor ailments as headaches, nasal irritations, boils, etc., which have made it a most popular patent medicine used by millions of people: The Eng Aun Tong, Mr. Aw's firm which manufactures and handles the sales of the Tiger Balm (and also the Pat Kwa Tan, a similar medicine which is almost as popular as the Balm itself), has branches in all the countries in Southeast Asia and in practically every major city on the Chinese mainland. Millionaires have always been a rare species of human being in . Aw Boon Haw, however, has achieved great fame in this part of the world not because his patent medicines have made him a multimillionaire but because he has used his wealth in the service of his fellow beings. In a press interview he gave in the United States shortly before his death, Mr. Aw said that he had not only earned tens of millions of dollars but had also spent that much for charitable purposes. "I have returned to the people what I have obtained from them," he declared. This, indeed, is a claim which can be made by very few other Chinese millionaires, if any. The institutions to which Mr. Aw has donated generous sums of money include schools, hospitals, orphanages, homes for the aged, houses for fire victim's, etc. As a matter of fact, many of these institutions in Hongkong and have been established with the money he donated. In recent years, every birthday of Mr. Aw was made an occasion for the distribution of cash gifts to thousands upon thousands of destitute old people. In the latter part of his life Mr. Aw's unbounded energy caused his activities to branch out into the field of journalism. The result was the establishment of a chain of newspapers, including several English-language dailies, which we are happy to note are all anti-Communist in their attitude. One of the most outstanding human qualities Mr. Aw has exemplified throughout his life is charity, a quality which is conspicuous by its absence in Communist rulers everywhere. Another passion of Mr. Aw to which he has given ample expression is the promotion of sports and the cultivation of the spirit of sportsmanship. The Communists, too, are laying much stress on sports, but sportsmanship is certainly something unknown to them in both their personal relationships and international dealings. Upon learning of Aw Boon Haw's death President Chiang Kai-shek awarded him a laudatory scroll praising his "upholding of justice and love of charity." This is a tribute well deserved by the Tiger Balm magnate, who as a philanthropist has put to shame those Chinese millionaires now spending their ill-gotten wealth in their sanctuaries abroad.