I asked one of the immigration officers in HKG and his response was "as long as the words on the boarding pass can be found in the passport, in whatever order, we'll let you through". I then asked what if the last and first names were switched around, he repeated his answer (politely). I then asked if this is a HKG policy or whether it is an international practice, he said he believes it is a global standard. I asked him all these questions because I just bought my domestic helper a ticket and I accidentally put one of her two surnames into the first name field together with her first name thinking it was a middle name.