Our Chief Executive Carrie Lam recently decided that she would not attend further question and answer sessions at the legislature, as her past experience of attending had been unpleasant. As your editorial of October 29 rightly pointed out, such sessions were started in 1992 by the then governor, Chris Patten, and have been working rather effectively for almost three decades (“ Legco Q&A a key part of Carrie Lam’s job ”). It appears that the city’s chief executive is putting personal whim above an established and valuable procedure which has certainly improved communication between executive and legislature. Her subordinates – bureau secretaries, permanent secretaries, department heads and directorate officials – now have good reason to follow suit: first, their boss, that is the chief executive, is doing exactly that; and second, their experience of attending such sessions has also been not at all pleasant. Notwithstanding, attendance by officials is part and parcel of their duties. The chief executive should not, and must not, lead in dereliction of duty. Recently, a much talked about subject has been the latest coronavirus social distancing measures allowing six persons to gather indoors versus four persons outdoors. The government has a duty to explain clearly and logically to our citizens why it would be safer for six persons to gather in restaurants, eating, drinking and chatting with their masks off, as opposed to the same number of people in open air, with their masks on. The logic (if any) behind such decisions is baffling, to put it mildly. Francis Lo, North Point Can the government start making sense, please? I am writing to express my opinion on “ Hong Kong social-distancing measures relaxed, but diners still wary, with most preferring to eat in small groups ” (October 30). Since the new wave of the pandemic in July, I have almost lost count of the times that the government tweaked the social distancing measures. Yes, I understand that the situation is unpredictable. Still, citizens are obviously dumbstruck by the contradiction in the rules. No doubt, everyone is pleased to see the declining number of Covid-19 cases. People pinned their hopes on the relaxing of restrictions – we are all social animals in desperate need of fiestas and high spirits. Then came the sensational news: the government now allows six people to dine at a table, while still banning public gatherings of more than four. How ridiculous is that? Heading to a restaurant separately, taking off the mask to eat and maybe make small talk, only to then bid farewell before leaving the restaurant separately for fear of breaking the law. It certainly leaves citizens at a loss for words. New gathering curbs an insult to Hongkongers’ intelligence The pandemic had already caused disquietude, and the government was supposed to make things better. To say people are crestfallen at the government’s decision is an understatement. They are still appealing to the public not to gather, but people already see the moderated measures as a sign that everything is going to be “normal” soon. With all the professionals on hand to help ameliorate the pandemic, it is hoped that the government will propose sensible measures to ease the apprehensions of the public. Tracy Yip, Kwai Chung