Singer Peter Yarrow tells University of Hong Kong lack of respect at root of protests

A puff of 1960s magic blew through the University of Hong Kong yesterday as Peter Yarrow, one part of American folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, held a concert and rally at the university's Sun Yat-sen square.

The 74-year-old folk singer and activist made his name as a symbol of the civil-rights movement in the 1960s. He sang songs from that era, such as If I Had a Hammer and Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind, as well as the more recent Don't Laugh at Me.

The co-writer of '60s hit Puff the Magic Dragon told his young audience that issues like women's rights, climate change and civil rights all stemmed from a common source.

"Each movement is about respect or the lack of it," he said, adding: "Selfishness is the handmaiden of disrespect, and that starts with the kids in school."

Speaking of his experience at Cornell University, where he was a student in the late 1950s, he said it was a place where women were treated like objects, and people put too much emphasis on money and power.

Genocide, religious intolerance, violence and discrimination all started from an initial refusal to sit down with someone different, the singer said.