Enjoying our city’s pace
Jaime Prouten
I’M THE make-up artist and pharmacy assistant here at the Hooper Centre Pharmacy.
I’ve been here just over 10 years. I’m from Biddeston originally, and I did my whole primary school out there and then I’ve been to several different high schools – Oakey, Wilsonton, Mount Lofty and Harristown.
And I got offered a job here and I’ve been here ever since.
What’s one thing I love about Toowoomba? There’s lots of parks. I’ve got a three year old and he’s probably got three favourite parks in Toowoomba that we go to. So it’s good there's lots of options in that sense.
Natalie Chooi
I’M FROM Malaysia originally, Kuala Lumpur. My family and I migrated here when I was 18.
We came straight to Toowoomba. I stayed here for three years, then went to university for four years, then just came back again.
When I first moved to Toowoomba, there was definitely a big difference in culture.
It was very quiet here, much less busy than Kuala Lumpur.
It was very quiet and there was not much night life – it could be pretty boring sometimes, but you just need to find stuff to do. I guess as time goes by you get used to it and start to really enjoy the relaxing lifestyle.
I studied pharmacy at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.
Why pharmacy? It’s just that I like it and it was my friend’s influence as well.
What do I like about Toowoomba? The people here are really friendly and it’s a nice community. It’s definitely a nice place to live.
Catherine Chiu
I’M THE owner of this business. I’ve been in Toowoomba for just over 12 months.
I’m an immigrant, I’ve been in Australia for 13 or 14 years.
Originally, I’m from Taiwan. We moved to Brisbane from overseas, and spent about 12 years there.
Why Australia? I really liked Australia – I liked how its multicultural, I liked the freedom of being able to do things and I think mainly back then, I moved here to study – there were more opportunities here. Taiwan was a lot more stressful.
I went to school at Kenmore State School, on the west side of Brisbane, before studying at the University of Queensland.
I moved to Toowoomba because my husband was here, and has been for many years.
We really liked Toowoomba, even before he came here. I came to visit for a family trip, more than 10 years ago, and I really liked it.
I had an opportunity to come up here to do a placement in Toowoomba Hospital a couple of years back as well, and then this opportunity came up.
What do I love about Toowoomba? It’s a great city for everything, it’s nice and close, with plenty of schools, and I really like that feeling of – I wouldn’t say country – but it’s a slow-paced city.
We live here ‘cos we love it!