Dear Carrie Lam, A good leader leads by example. Are we to take your arrangements for and behaviour at the National Day ceremony and reception as an acceptable interpretation of the rules on group gatherings and social distancing, as we peacefully express our love of Hong Kong and the rights and freedoms laid down in the Basic Law ? You sat shoulder to shoulder outdoors in a group of at least 200 gathered for a common purpose. You wore a mask, but took that off after moving inside and closely mingled, unmasked, with the whole podium party while drinking. In the audience, although each table was limited to four seats, they were closely spaced, and people mingled, masked and unmasked, while toasting and greeting each other. This does not appear to follow the spirit of the regulations on groups limited to four people, and restaurants limited to 50 per cent capacity . I hope that you will make it quite clear that people exercising their rights to free speech and freedom of assembly will not be prosecuted for activities of the same nature as those you publicly take part in. Allan Dyer, Wong Chuk Hang Why are social distancing rules selectively enforced? It is perfectly legal for me to squeeze into a lift with 15 other people, crushed together mere centimetres apart. I can squeeze into a packed MTR train carriage and stand nose to nose with other passengers. I can go to shops such as Ikea and Don Don Donki and shuffle around with hundreds of other people. I can go to a restaurant and sit with three other people, whom I may not know very well, and we can all take off our face masks. But if I go out in the street and start shouting “Carrie Lam could do better!” with other people who may be more than a metre from me, I am suddenly breaking social distancing laws. Maids enjoying a few hours’ rest on a Sunday are targeted for breaking social distancing laws, and yet I see groups of more than four people gathering in the street as friends meet to go on to restaurants and bars. At Easter, everyone flocked to the beaches to enjoy the sunshine and we were told that we were putting people’s lives at risk. There were few new Covid-19 cases for weeks after that, and yet Hong Kong beaches remain closed. Can someone explain the logic? Andy Statham, Happy Valley