The government said this week it will not appeal the court ruling that threw out its plan to build flats on part of the Fanling golf course. That plan took years to get approved. A judge tossed it. And now, instead of going another round in court, the government's just packing up and walking away.

Here's the bit that's actually funny. For years the argument was: we need land, the golf course is a colonial leftover for a few thousand members, build the flats. Officials fought hard for that. Now a court says the approval process was flawed, and the government's response is a shrug. If the housing was really that urgent, you'd expect a fight. Instead the story just ends, and the guys with the golf clubs go back to their Tuesday round like nothing happened. Whoever needed that flat is still waiting.