In recent years, when giving book talks and presenting photographs from his Along the Southern Boundary book, Les Bird has been reunited with some of the former Vietnamese refugees that he first met over 40 years before. These were the survivors that had escaped war-torn Vietnam, crossed the South China Sea in small ramshackle boats or rusty old freighters, and then spent years in the camps in Hong Kong.
As a result of these reunions, Bird was told some incredible stories—stories of survival when all hope seemed lost and tales of courage and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds. Some told of how they were the victims of the people-smuggling gangs, others of how they faced attacks at sea by ruthless pirates. These stories make up The Lucky Few – Stories of Remarkable Survivors—fifteen individual accounts that delve into the lives of these extraordinary people, following each of them from their years as refugees up until the present day.
Told in the former refugees’ own words and put into context by Bird’s own firsthand experience, this new book will be published by Blacksmith Books in Hong Kong in September 2026. This talk and exhibition of photographs for the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong in February 2026 is a prequel to Les Bird’s new book.
The Speaker
Les Bird is a former Marine Police commander. Originating from Staffordshire in the U.K., he joined the Royal Hong Kong Police in 1976. His work in the force was diverse—in the late 1970s he was a rural inspector of West Lantau, and through the 1980s he oversaw the influx of tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees into Hong Kong. During his service Les commanded three of the five Marine Divisions and also headed the SBU, the Marine Fast Pursuit Unit combating cross-border smuggling of people, arms, drugs, and luxury cars.
Les Bird’s published works include his memoir, A Small Band of Men: An Englishman’s Adventures in Hong Kong’s Marine Police, plus an account of the Vietnamese boat people's arrival in Hong Kong, titled Along the Southern Boundary. Both books were featured at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, while photographs from this second book have been on exhibition at the Chinese University in Hong Kong (2020-2021), the Wende Museum, Los Angeles (2023), the EastPro Art and Photography Gallery in Hong Kong (2023), the Lakewood Institute in Cleveland, Ohio (2024), and the Vietnamese Heritage Museum, California (2025-). More details: https://www.lesbirdhk.com/
PROGRAMME
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm (Reception starts at 6:30 pm)
Admission: $175 for members, $220 for guests /non-members (Light refreshments are included in the admission fee)
Registration: Please email <membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk> and provide your membership number, if applicable, at the time of registration. Please kindly complete your registration by advance payment via Stripe's payment links below (using your Credit Card):
Members ($175):
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Details about the other payment option will be sent on registration. Upon receipt of payment, your registration will be confirmed by email. Registration will be closed at 12 noon on 4 February 2026.