In every organisation there is at least one old hero who is always reminding others that he is very senior and he is very smart.
Many moons ago, I had a boomer colleague who was very arrogant and was always telling others that he had forty years of teaching experience. He was also quite a bully and would even refuse orders from his Head of Department.
It was none of my business and I was young and impulsive. So I wrote an e-mail to the all staff e-mail thread to praise this colleague by sharing a blog post that he had written on courtesy.
He took the bait and was very pleased. He compared his upbringing with the current generation and that was my opening to criticise him. The exchange escalated into a debate which everyone could read. At that time, my logic was that this guy is such a high profile bully, he should be called out in a high profile way.
The principal intervened. He wrote to tell us to stop debating and that there are better ways to acknowledge one another. We were asked to see him in person to talk about this.
I saw the principal alone. He could see that I had written veiled barbs to criticise my colleague and said he would manage the chap.
Of course I felt I was trying to 打抱不平. But it was also ego lah. I was young then…