Frances Wilks visited the new Entopia at Teluk Bahang and found that the Penang Butterfly Farm has morphed into a completely new ecosystem.

Stratford-upon-Avon is known throughout the world as the birthplace of the great English dramatist William Shakespeare, for the theatre that bears his name, and the picturesque Anne Hathaway’s cottage. Yet this historic Warwickshire town was the inspiration for a young Penang teacher named David Goh for quite a different reason.

The English roots of a tropical garden

In the 1980s, naturalist Clive Farrell set up a butterfly farm there in a large greenhouse, landscaped with waterfalls, ponds, and tropical plants. It was one of the first of its kind and a bit of a revelation for people who had previously only seen butterflies fluttering briefly around summer gardens or else dead and pinned to cardboard in framed and glassed displays.

“In Victorian times butterflies were perhaps plentiful enough to catch and kill,’ says Farrell. “Not any more. Butterflies are like canaries in the coalmine – sensitive indicators of the health of our environment. To walk among them is a privilege.”

Back in Penang, David Goh realised that he could turn his hobby and his passion into a successful business. The Penang Butterfly Farm became not only one of the island’s leading tourist attractions but also grew into an internationally recognised research and breeding centre for invertebrates.

Invertebrates, or animals without backbones, actually comprise more than 80% of all animals and thus are the silent majority, often working unsung and unseen to keep the balance of nature harmonious. David Goh envisioned a serious educational purpose beyond the pleasure of getting up close and personal with butterflies. As a teacher, he understood the importance of direct experience. He says:

“Lessons from nature have to be free from the confines of the classroom to be meaningful. That’s why I dreamed of an idyllic garden.”

Entopia emerges from the chrysalis of the Penang Butterfly Farm

The old Penang Butterfly Farm attracted over five million visitors. It was a little makeshift to be sure and, as the butterflies fluttered round you, myriad splashes of iridescent colours, sometimes landing softly on your shoulders, it was magical. You realised that butterflies really are flowers in flight – and that their emergence from the cocoon of a caterpillar gives us one of the most beautiful metaphors of change.

There were other animals on display too such as snakes, scorpions, spiders, and centipedes. We’re used to thinking about them as mere “creepy crawlies” but in fact they have their own lives and contribute to the ecosphere that maintains us all.

The old Butterfly Farm needed upgrading and so it closed while a new structure took shape. A huge grey façade, subdivided with white piping, emerged. It was rather forbidding to begin with but is becoming much softer as it progresses towards becoming the longest living wall in Malaysia. Apparently the shapes of the subdivisions are inspired by the patterns of a dragonfly wings.

It has tripled in size from the old building and is set to get even bigger with a further expansion in 2019 of MICE facilities and conference halls.

Opened with a fanfare on 8 July, it’s cost more than RM50 million, all raised by private investors, and has been rebranded as Entopia. David Goh’s son, Joseph, has been the driving force behind this transformation.

The word Entopia is a play on Utopia. But whereas Utopia means nowhere, hinting that the ideal way of living is forever beyond the grasp of human beings, Entopia, by contrast, means “in place”.

Entopia is a real place, a place of hope and education – and delight. Although the founders don’t mention it, I think there is an echo of entomologist in the name. Entomologists study insects and their relationships with other animals, their environments, and human beings – all which is what Entopia stands for.

The experience of Entopia: Natureland and the cocoon

There are two distinct parts to Entopia – experience and learning. You first come upon a huge domed structure, called Natureland, which has been themed as a natural environment – David Goh’s “idyllic garden”. There’s a lot of water, in the form of pools and waterfalls. At the heart of it is the Home Tree, created from concrete and garlands of plastic leaves.

I suppose it would have been too difficult to transplant a living tree of the right size but an artificial one is rather less convincing than even a smaller natural one would have been. I am reminded of the trees in the glasshouses of Kew Gardens that started as saplings but that have grown over the years so much that the buildings have had to be re-designed around them. Natureland is a living vivarium, a garden that’s a shared ecological space for a variety of animal species including insects, invertebrates and small reptiles living in their re-created natural habitat.

This is where you experience the butterflies – 15,000 of them fly at any one time. They alight on flowers, they mate delicately forming even more beautiful shapes, and they nibble the fruit and vegetables laid out for them. You can release butterflies yourself in the Vita Nova, or new life, event that’s held twice a day.

There’s a special section for dragonflies that is enclosed, as dragonflies are almost transparent and very hard to see. The scorpions, centipedes, spiders, and lizards are there too – their solidity providing an exquisite counterpoint to the diaphanous butterflies. There are also some large turtles in the ponds, some of which may even be centenarians, giving another poignant contrast to the brief lives of the butterflies.

After enjoying Natureland you go underground to the Cocoon – which is a very different experience. It’s two floors of display areas that attempt to engage the visitor in a learning journey encouraging them to find out more about invertebrates and the environment in general through a series of interactive edu-stations.

There’s an indoor firefly room, darkened so that you can see the amazing light of the creatures. Other displays are themed to create excitement and interest for young minds such as the Mystery Cave, Montane Pass, Tiger Trail, Downtown Entopia, Breeding ground, Pandora Forest, and Understory Tales. There are also special learning programmes for schools and other groups or organisations.

All in all, Entopia is an enjoyable experience – even for those of us who loved the old Butterfly Farm. Hopefully it will raise awareness in the younger generation of the privilege of walking amongst butterflies, and so realise the importance of preserving the environment and allowing all species to flourish on planet Earth.

Visitng Entopia

Entopia is situated in Teluk Bahang between the Reservoir and ESCAPE on the road to Balik Pulau (turn left at the Monkey Cup roundabout as you enter the town). It’s open from 9am to 8pm every day and the last entrance is at 6pm. Entrance costs RM49 for an adult and RM29 for a child (up to 13 years). Concessions are available for MYCARD holders and senior citizens.

Address: 830, Jalan Teluk Bahang, 11050 Penang. T +6 (04) 8888111.
Website: entopia.com

This article was originally published in The Expat magazine (August 2016) which is available online or in print via free subscription.