Axe Brand at 97: How a Singapore Household Remedy Built a Global Legacy

A familiar bottle with a history stretching back to 1928

Axe Brand Universal Oil began in Singapore in 1928 with Leung Yun Chee, an immigrant from Shunde, China, and a medicated oil formula obtained from a German physician, Dr. Schmeidler. By August 21, 2025, the brand's journey spanned 97 years, more than 50 countries and generations of families who kept its familiar bottle within reach.

As Singapore marks SG60, Axe Brand offers a view of the country's history through an everyday household object. Its distinctive scent, blue and green packaging, and image of an arm wielding an axe have become familiar features of domestic life. For many users, the bottle carries memories of parents and grandparents tending to headaches, insect bites and other minor discomforts.

The business behind it, Leung Kai Fook Medical Company, has combined that continuity with changes in manufacturing, overseas distribution and quality assurance. Its history includes creative newspaper advertising, the spread of the oil through Muslim pilgrimage journeys, and an early move toward international manufacturing standards.

Axe Brand's place in Singapore rests on several connected achievements: selling an affordable remedy, building trust within families, reaching customers far beyond its home market and becoming part of the country's heritage displays. Its continuing challenge is to preserve those connections while appealing to younger consumers whose choices include a growing range of modern wellness products.

How a silk company manager became a remedy maker

Leung Yun Chee arrived in Singapore during the 1920s and initially worked as a manager at a silk trading company. His search for new business opportunities led him to the formula that would become Axe Brand Universal Oil.

Dr. Schmeidler supplied the formula, and Leung began producing the oil in 1928. The blend combined menthol, camphor, eucalyptus oil and lavender oil, with the aim of providing gentle, natural relief for minor ailments. Headaches, nausea, muscle aches and insect bites were among the discomforts associated with its use.

Leung chose an axe as the brand's symbol because it was a common household tool in Singapore at the time. The name connected the product with reliability and everyday usefulness. The arm holding an axe, set against the distinctive blue and green packaging, gave customers an image they could recognize and remember.

Affordability also helped the product find a place in households. A small bottle intended for several common complaints could become part of a family's regular collection of remedies, shared across generations rather than bought for a single occasion.

Newspapers, calendars and the struggle for customers

Axe Brand's early years brought stiff competition and a lukewarm response from the market. The recognition it later enjoyed took time to build, and Leung used several forms of promotion to make the product more visible.

He placed advertisements in local newspapers and started his own Chinese language newspaper. He also distributed calendars and promotional gifts, giving potential customers repeated reminders of the brand beyond the moment of purchase.

Those efforts helped Axe Brand stand out in a crowded market and laid the foundation for later growth. The approach linked a memorable household symbol with frequent exposure in print and through useful objects that people could keep.

By the 1960s, Axe Brand had become a household name in Singapore. Its progress from a difficult market entry to widespread familiarity was supported by both deliberate advertising and recommendations from people who used the oil in daily life.

How pilgrimage journeys carried the brand overseas

Muslim pilgrims travelling to Mecca for the haj played an important role in Axe Brand's expanding reach. During long journeys, they used the oil for seasickness and other discomforts. Recommendations among pilgrims helped carry the brand's reputation to Indonesia, Pakistan, Kenya and beyond.

Overseas trade also created opportunities. After World War II, the resumption of trade allowed the company to expand internationally. Malaysia and Indonesia were among the markets it entered, followed by the Middle East and Africa, and eventually the United States, Australia and Europe.

The company's growth can be traced through several milestones:

• In the 1920s, Leung Yun Chee arrived in Singapore from Shunde, China, and worked in the silk trade.
• In 1928, he began producing Axe Brand Universal Oil using the formula obtained from Dr. Schmeidler.
• After World War II, the return of overseas trade supported expansion into foreign markets.
• By the 1960s, Axe Brand was a household name in Singapore, while recommendations among haj pilgrims helped extend its reach.
• In 1992, the company became the first local medical oil producer to obtain ISO-9002 certification.
• By August 2025, Axe Brand Universal Oil was sold in more than 50 countries.

Packaging translated into numerous languages supports that international customer base. The oil also remains a popular souvenir for travellers, taking a product closely associated with Singapore into homes abroad.

According to Singapore's National Library Board, the company operates five factories across Asia certified under Good Manufacturing Practice standards. That manufacturing network supports consistent quality and supply across its global markets.

What goes into the familiar oil

Axe Brand Universal Oil is colourless and formulated to avoid staining. Its blend brings together ingredients associated with cooling sensations, soothing aromas and relief from everyday discomforts.

The four ingredients described in the brand's history have different roles:

• Menthol provides a cooling sensation and helps relieve headaches and nasal congestion.
• Camphor offers effects that reduce inflammation and relieve pain.
• Eucalyptus oil contributes a soothing aroma and is associated with easing respiratory discomfort.
• Lavender oil adds a calming fragrance and mild properties that relieve pain.

For an everyday reader, inflammation means the body's response to irritation or injury, which can involve swelling and soreness. Nasal congestion is the blocked or stuffy feeling in the nose. These are among the kinds of minor discomforts for which the oil has become familiar.

The combination has given Axe Brand its reputation as a versatile remedy, described as a "therapy in a bottle." Its appeal rests partly on the convenience of keeping one accessible product for several everyday complaints, alongside a price that has helped it remain a household staple.

Why families keep reaching for it

Parents and grandparents are central to Axe Brand's place in Singaporean life. In households where remedies are shared, familiarity with the oil can begin long before a person buys a bottle of their own. Its scent becomes linked with being cared for during a headache, stomachache or insect bite.

Online forums and social media discussions reflect that attachment. Singaporeans place Axe Brand alongside products such as Tiger Balm and Mopiko when describing the remedies they keep for everyday aches and pains.

A Singaporean participant in a community discussion described how different familiar products served different needs:

Axe brand medical oil—for minor headaches. Tiger balm lotion—for muscle aches. I love these local staples.

The comment captures the practical nature of this loyalty. Axe Brand occupies a place within a collection of familiar household remedies, with users choosing among them according to the discomfort they want to soothe.

Repeated use within families has also given the bottle an emotional role. Its packaging and smell can recall earlier moments of care, helping explain why the brand's cultural presence extends beyond its ingredients or its position on a shop shelf.

Modern factories behind a traditional image

Leung Kai Fook Medical Company has invested in modern manufacturing facilities, quality control and international certifications while retaining a traditional public identity. The familiar packaging sits alongside a production business serving customers across many countries.

In 1992, the company became the first local medical oil producer to receive ISO-9002 certification. The certification marked a commitment to documented quality assurance procedures and international standards.

Good Manufacturing Practice, commonly shortened to GMP, concerns the way products are made and checked. Consistent procedures and quality controls help manufacturers maintain production standards. The company follows GMP guidelines and regularly updates its processes as health trends and regulations change.

The five certified factories across Asia connect the brand's household reputation with the practical demands of international supply. Customers may encounter the same recognizable oil in different markets, while the business must maintain quality across a much larger production and distribution network than the one Leung began in 1928.

The challenge of reaching younger buyers

Younger consumers present a continuing challenge for Axe Brand. Some regard its traditional packaging and marketing as old fashioned, while the company competes with an expanding selection of modern wellness products.

The brand's authenticity remains a strength, but refreshing its image has been identified as a possible way to attract new users while keeping the confidence of existing customers. An assessment of the brand described that balance:

Despite its international success and iconic status, the brand could benefit from revitalization to attract a new generation while maintaining its authenticity.

Updated packaging, digital marketing campaigns and new product lines suited to contemporary lifestyles are possible approaches. As of August 21, 2025, these were possibilities discussed for modernization, with no specific launch dates given.

Axe Brand's history shows why changes require care. The packaging is part of how people recognize the product, and the scent is tied to family memories. At the same time, younger buyers encounter products through different channels and compare them with a wider range of alternatives.

A household product becomes part of national memory

Axe Brand has been recognized as an indigenous Singapore Heritage Brand and has received the Superbrand Award. Those distinctions reflect its standing as an enduring local business and a trusted family product.

The National Heritage Board has included its products in exhibitions alongside other recognizable goods made in Singapore. Displaying an everyday remedy in a heritage setting places ordinary household consumption within the country's wider industrial and cultural history.

Singapore's National Library has also organized the "When Nations Remember" conference, highlighting the preservation of collective memories and everyday objects. Axe Brand fits that discussion because a commercial product can carry memories shared by people across generations.

The bottle connects several parts of Singapore's story: immigration, small business formation, international trade, manufacturing and family life. During SG60, those connections give a familiar remedy a place in reflection on national identity and the country's development.

Leung Kai Fook Medical Company's community contributions extend beyond selling oil. The company has donated to hospitals, educational institutions and arts organizations, and has supported research on aging at the National University of Singapore. Those activities link its commercial success with health, education, culture and community welfare.

Survival among Singapore's heritage businesses

Axe Brand belongs to a wider group of enduring Singapore businesses that includes Yeo Hiap Seng, Bee Cheng Hiang and Killiney Kopitiam. These brands have weathered economic upheavals, wars and pandemics while maintaining connections with local culture.

Adaptability, innovation and those cultural connections are common features of their histories. For Axe Brand, adaptation has included overseas expansion and modern quality assurance, while continuity has come through its recognizable product and use within families.

Business closure figures cited in a Vulcan Post report offer a measure of the difficult environment in which long lasting companies operate. Singapore recorded more than 50,000 business closures in 2022, the highest number since 2016.

Against that setting, Axe Brand's longevity gives future entrepreneurs a concrete business history to study. Its development depended on more than one decision: a distinctive identity, persistent promotion, recommendations from users, access to overseas markets and investment in manufacturing all contributed to its survival.

At 97 years old in August 2025, the brand remained both a daily household product and a reminder of Singapore's commercial past. Its next task was already familiar to many heritage businesses: finding new customers while keeping the qualities that made existing users return.

Key Points

• Leung Yun Chee founded Axe Brand in Singapore in 1928 after obtaining a medicated oil formula from German physician Dr. Schmeidler.
• The colourless oil combines menthol, camphor, eucalyptus oil and lavender oil for use with minor everyday ailments.
• Newspaper advertising, promotional gifts and recommendations among haj pilgrims helped build its recognition and overseas reach.
• By August 2025, the product was sold in more than 50 countries, with packaging translated into numerous languages.
• The National Library Board says the company operates five GMP certified factories across Asia. It obtained ISO-9002 certification in 1992.
• Heritage recognition, family memories and community contributions have connected the brand with Singapore's national story.
• Attracting younger consumers while retaining its familiar identity remains a central challenge.