Question 1: Three Main Indices in Indicating Creative and Innovative Country

1. Talent index
This index about the achievement and the ability of a country to produce individuals who
have talent, knowledge and specific skills in the professional fields. This index consists of
three sub-indices, namely the creative class index, the index of human capital, and the
scientific talent index. For examples, South Korea is reasonably well placed, ranking 6th on
the R&D Index a measure of research and development expenditures; 10th on the Human
Capital index, which measures the percentage of people with college degrees; and 13th on
the Scientific Talent Index, which examines the number of researchers per capita. On the
other hand, South Korea has only about 4 million creative class workers—or 20% of the
workforce, compared to 30% for the U.S. or 39% for Ireland, which ranks first. The
implication is that outside science and technology, South Korea’s creative class could be
further developed.
2. Technologies index
This index is related to the achievement of science, technology and innovation in a country.
The abilities of innovation and high technology are closely linked with the technology index
which covers the three sub-indices of innovation, high-tech index and the index of research
and development (R & D). For examples the technology part of this equation is largely
settled in South Korea’s favor, with its ubiquitous broadband access and excellent technical
education. Plans to aggressively expand and update 2 nation-wide fiber-optic broadband
network are impressive. It is also important to continue investment in R&D and to recruit
foreign technology companies.
3. Tolerance Index
This index emphasizes psychological factors such as emotional and effective ones. There
are three important elements in the tolerance index, namely attitude, values and self-
expression. These three sub-indices are indicative of the space and freedom given to
individuals in creating and implementing creative ideas in a conducive atmosphere. For
examples on the Values Index, which measures the degree to which a country espouses
traditional values instead of more modern, secular values, South Korea, with its strong sense
of family and tradition, ranked 9th out of forty-five countries. (Japan ranked first.) This high
ranking no doubt has played a role in creating South Korea’s tight-knit, proud and orderly
society. But it might also account for the country’s much-lower position on the inverse
measure, the Self-Expression Index. This measures people's attitudes regarding the right to
publicly espouse alternatives and individual choices that run against the grain or prevailing
opinion; South Korea ranks 34th out of forty-five countries (Sweden is first).
Question 2: Different Are the Cultures of Thinking Between People in Western and Eastern
Countries.
Most of the cultural differences centre around two concepts:
1. Individualism- favours the individual as an independent entity and encourage self-
promotion and self-worth.
 2. Collectivism- individuals are part of a group and the needs of the group come before
the individual.
By and large, cultures in the west tend to be more individualistic whereas people from
the East are more collectivist.
As we know, the differences between Eastern and Western cultures are numerous, because
Eastern and Western people not only live in different environments but also are educated in
distinctively different ways. The characteristics of each culture are shown in its people’s
behavior; their attitudes toward life and love, and their personalities such as:
First of all, Eastern and Western people have different attitudes toward their life. Eastern
people live in time, which means that they follow the natural order of time to do what they
ought to do and work step by step. Eastern people don’t like their schedules to be messed up
and usually hate to change things once they decide the sequence. By contrast, Western people
live in space. They prefer to follow their dreams and do what they want to do. Sometimes
they are not as pragmatic as the Eastern people, but they often achieve great goals in their life
Secondly, Eastern and Western people differ greatly in their personalities. Eastern people are
often passive. They tend to be submissive than to be aggressive. They think that being a
leader is difficult, and they don’t like to take heavy responsibilities. Also, they are
contemplative. They think more and do less; on the contrary, Western people do more and
think less. They are diligent and assertive; they love to be leaders and make decisions.
Although these differences are not so arbitrary anymore, they are still obvious when we put
Eastern and Western people together. Western people often lead the Eastern people, but not
the opposite.
Finally, the attitudes toward love in the East and the West aren’t the same. Eastern people
think that love is mute. For example, when Chinese people love a person, they don’t say, “I
love you.’’ They just show their love in actions. On the other hand, Western people think
love is vocal. When they want to show how much they love a person, they would say it
loudly and create romantic scenes such as buying a big bouquet of roses. In addition, Eastern
people do not get married just for love. They would choose their marriage partner match able
to their educational, social and economic background. That is, they care more about the real
things in real life than the romantic feelings in a marriage. Nevertheless, Western people
rarely get married before they make sure if they are in love with each other. Perhaps we can
say that romantic love is part of Western people’s lives, and they cannot live without it. A
Western woman can get married with a poor man but still feel satisfied and happy. Though it
is not that Eastern people do not have this kind of examples, it happens less often because
even if they want to get married with someone poor, their parents would not agree. Speaking
of parents, we can see another apparent example that how Eastern and Western parents are
showing their love toward their children. Parents in Eastern countries think they have the
obligations to decide what is the best for their children; however, parents in the West think it
is best for their children to make their own decisions.
In short, Eastern and Western people not only live in different lifestyles, but also think in
distinctively different ways. Although some of the characteristics are not so arbitrary
anymore nowadays, they still exist in our society. Understanding these characteristics would
definitely benefit our appreciating and learning from each other’s culture.
Question 3. The views of Islam on Thinking and Innovation.
Thinking culture is not a new phenomenon in Islam. The encouragement to think has been
stressed in the Holy Qur'an since the very beginning of the emergence of Islam when the
religion was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The first surah revealed to Prophet
Muhammad was al-'Alaq (The Clot), a surah that urged the Prophet to read (pbuh)
(al-'Alaq:1-5). Reading is the key to knowledge. Through reading, human beings get to know
things that are tangible and intangible. The Holy Qur'an is the book of guidance from which
man gets to know things that are prescribed by Allah upon mankind and it consists of, among
other matters related to ibadah, information on social life, economics, administration and
politics. Apart from that, the Holy Qur'an also tells stories of people who lived in the past as
lessons for mankind. The Holy Qur'an is not only a source of reference for Muslims, but it
also acts as the medium between man and his Creator. It is Allah who guides man and teaches
him things that he knows and other things that he knows not. Through reading, then the
process of thinking starts to flourish and ideas grow. In this sense, reading leads to thinking.
However, it is not merely reading, but it should be followed by thinking and a deeper
thinking that eventually guides mankind to glorify and recognize the supremacy of Allah. The
ultimate goal of Muslims, afterall, is to get the pleasure of Allah.
Besides, Innovation and creativity are also highly encouraged in Islam. From the Islamic
perspective, all conducts of human in all aspects of their lives must be guided by the divine
rules and regulations of the Islamic law or shariah. As such, in the context of innovation,
innovating without following the shariah guidelines or without being bounded by the
stipulated rules and regulation could lead to harmful consequences and destructive
innovations, for example human and animal cloning. Muslims are encouraged to think and
make use of creative and critical thinking in order to fulfil their human needs as well as to
cope with modernity. Islam urges Muslims to practice the teaching of Islam with knowledge,
complete understanding and faith, rather than blind imitation.