TELUK BAHANG: After almost a two-month wait, Entopia by Penang Butterfly Farm welcomed its one millionth visitor this morning.
Muhammad Arif Mahadhir, 15, whose name sounds similar to our former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, came to Entopia while on holiday with his family.
His 18-year-old sister, Nur Zahara Azri, preceded him as the 999,999th visitor as they walked inside with their parents at about 10.30am.
The Entopia team, who were eagerly waiting for the lucky visitors, gave them a warm welcome.
Entopia chief executive officer Joseph Goh gave away hampers to both of them before inviting Muhammad Arif to cut a cake to celebrate the special occasion.
Muhammad Arif received a gift basket with goodies worth RM4,500, which included a one night stay for two at the Hard Rock Hotel, Flight of the Colugo Zipline Experience for two at The Habitat Penang Hill and more plus one million minutes of nature learning experience which equates to two-year Friends of Entopia membership.
His sister Nur Zahara also received a gift basket with goodies worth RM1,700.
Minutes later, Nur Aqilah Dayana Mohamad Azhar, 11, from Perak, was named the one millionth and one visitor.
The trio then were invited to release butterflies to commemorate the special day.
"We reached here yesterday for a one week holiday and decided to head to Entopia for sight seeing. We came here not knowing about the one millionth visitor, so I was surprised that I am the one today," said Muhammad Arif when met, here.
Goh said that they had made preparations and were anticipating to welcome the one millionth visitor since end of last year.
Entopia receives between 600 to 700 visitors daily since it was redeveloped and opened to the public in 2016.
"If we calculate from 1986, when the Butterfly Farm was opened, we already crossed six million visitors. But we never celebrated any (visitor milestone) in the past.
"This is why we decided to celebrate it now," he said today.
When asked about the Covid-19 pandemic, he said that its staff had been taking initiatives to take the temperature of all visitors and sanitise the area.
"We experienced a drop of 39 per cent in February this year compared to last year.
"But the figures picked up since yesterday. We are doing our part to address the issue," he added.