Read books to nurture creative thinking ability

Mr. Park Chul Won opened his presentation with the question: In the world, which country's people have the happiest life? What factors does the happiness index reflect?

The speaker shared: among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the countries with the highest happiness index are the Northwestern European countries such as Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, etc. Next are the remaining countries of Europe, the US and Canada. However, there are countries with very developed economies but are not ranked in the list of happy countries. Thus, countries with high happiness index are not only countries with developed economies, but also have to build a rich cultural and spiritual life for the people.

Mr. Park Chul Won also pointed out the consequences that developing countries have to bear when they only focus on economic development without paying attention to spiritual life such as: pragmatic lifestyle, materialism, increasing gap between rich and poor, social evils, crime, decline in education...

“I think that in order for Vietnam to develop into a truly happy country, it needs to educate the entire population to enhance spiritual values. And most importantly, it is necessary to put reading culture at the center of all levels of education." - Chairman Hanuri said.

So why is reading so important? Why should children form the habit of reading from a young age? And how to read properly?

Hanuri's reading education program has introduced to the public the "5 in 1" reading method. It is a synthesis process that includes all listening - speaking - reading - writing skills, then thinking, discussing, giving opinions, presenting, and drawing conclusions. Such a reading process will help children develop the ability to think creatively. Synthetic thinking includes the ability to analyze, criticize, calculate, imagine, logic, evaluate values, etc. People who regularly read books and practice the above skills will form and develop the ability to think creatively.This will be national competitiveness in the 21st century." - Mr. Park Chul Won emphasized.

The 21st century is the century of human development. The history of human civilization is the history of the development of knowledge civilization and creative capacity. The focus and foundation for the formation of knowledge and creative thinking is from reading. Taking reading as the basis, from which to build another knowledge system, at any time is the responsibility of those working in education. Each country also needs to recognize the important role of reading culture and have measures to encourage and promote reading movements among the people, especially among children and adolescents.

Mr. Park Chul Won shared that when he was young, he lived in extremely difficult circumstances, but only by reading books did he find the right path for his life. Books helped nurture his dreams, aspirations and maintain his love for this world. Therefore, he vowed to devote his life to spreading the importance of reading to the community. The Headquarters for Promoting Reading Culture (Hanuri) is the passion of him and many colleagues.

Hanuri is currently contributing to and promoting the implementation of mass education promotion movements in Korea, and persists with the viewpoint: nurturing morally mature people; educating citizens to master rational thinking methods; contributing to the development of an advanced country with a creative culture.

Mr. Park Chul Won affirmed: Vietnam and Korea have become important partners in cultural and economic exchanges. In particular, cultural and educational exchanges will create “soft” power, helping to strengthen the friendship and understanding between the people of the two countries. Certainly, books and activities related to reading will play an important role in promoting this relationship. He expressed his hope that there will be many opportunities to share with young Vietnamese people his knowledge about reading, his personal experiences in promoting and spreading the reading movement and that of the Hanuri Group to contribute to the development of Vietnam and to building friendship between the two countries.