The curtain has barely been drawn on one crisis and yet another looms over plans for the West Kowloon cultural district and tomorrow's.

public consultation launch for the controversial HK$40 billion project.

It is set to unleash more criticism and raise resentment toward the government - which is enjoying little relief from developers' decisions not to demolish the never-used Hung Hom blocks - to new heights.

Central to mounting dissatisfaction over the Hung Hom and West Kowloon projects is suspicion over less-than-transparent deals between property tycoons and a government that tends to play into their hands.

The number of culturally inclined citizens and the necessity, or not, of a canopy over the West Kowloon site aside, disputes over the project focus on the government's insistence on a single developer approach, its stubborn non-disclosure of financial arrangements with the three bidders, and the high plot ratios in their proposals.

It is not difficult to see why the hisses and boos are always directed at the same people when the money always seems to end up in the pockets of the omnipotent property giants.

Heated debates over alleged government-developer collusion in relation to the Hung Hom Peninsula debacle, memories of the Cyberport farce and recently reignited rows over suspected sweet deals at Discovery Bay are potent and dangerous seasonings in the West Kowlooon mix.

``[Disputes over] Hung Hom and West Kowloon stem from fundamentally the same place,'' University of Science and Technology social science professor Ma Ngok said.

``Both reinforce a common public impression that business concerns are exerting more-than-desired influence on government policies. It's easy to believe that the developer always wins all, and such impressions have become more ingrained these [recent] years.''

Anthony Cheung, chairman of think-tank SynergyNet and organiser of the People's Panel on West Kowloon, believes the cultural project will hone public dissatisfaction to an even harder edge.

``Hung Hom has further alienated the government from the people,'' he said. ``The administration's responsibility in the Hung Hom blunder is larger than the developers, but its reaction was passive and its handling of the crisis disappointing.

``More than 500 members on the People's Panel are now against pushing the West Kowloon project, and they comprise a very wide social base.''

Cheung calls West Kowloon a dangerous time bomb, and Ma agrees, adding that this time even pro-government parties have failed to back the administration.

All three leading political parties have demanded disclosure of financial arrangements, such as land premiums, with the prospective developers.

Public resentment will find an outlet in a protest planned for New Year's Day.

City University political science professor James Sung goes so far as to say the coming weeks will see the government facing a far worse crisis than the Article 23 quagmire.

``Hung Hom will not be laid to rest so soon, what with conspiracy theories pointing at government foreknowledge of the demolition, and investigations into why it hid this knowledge,'' he said.

``And the worst thing is that these accusations are also relevant to the West Kowloon issue, and even to Discovery Bay. People are asking whether a long-weakened government is slowly selling away Hong Kong's property to developers, and the government's credibility is rapidly sliding.''

But both Ma and Cheung say the impending West Kowloon crisis is less of an immediate threat to the government than Article 23 and is unlikely to bring half a million protesters on to the streets.

Nevertheless, the rows over Hung Hom and West Kowloon have already done their damage.

A recent popularity poll showed that West Kowloon mastermind, Chief Secretary Donald Tsang, has slid from the top of the ladder, while housing chief Michael Suen has practically dropped off the scale.

But government Central Policy Unit chairman Lau Siu-kai insists Hong Kong society is stable. He said on Monday that recent tension triggered by West Kowloon, Hung Hom Peninsula, and the Link Real Estate Investment Trust does not constitute governance crises.

The controversies, he said, result more from people, now in better economic times, looking back with a fresh perspective on government decisions made during tougher times.

But City University's Sung said discontent is still linked to the government's rejection of a referendum on the introduction of universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008. ``Pro-democracy activists are now changing their focus to socio-economic issues, which are virtually everywhere you look.''