Sadly, due to the lack of formal tertiary education, most of our dfos become pushovers at meetings of divisional heads. Most divisional heads had tertiary and post-graduate training whereby they were trained in negotiations ( conning, lying without batting an eye, arm twisting, etc ), legal wrangling, psychology, industrial relations and politics. Pilot dfos were sadly lacking in such skills ( notwithstanding the laughable MBAs or MARA type diplomas/degrees that some acquired ) and at crucial meetings, the other divisional head had them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This is the fault of our recruitment system where only a mere SPM/MCE was required. No doubt a SPM/MCE guy may be very intelligent with great motor manipulative skills which are superb for flight training, the lack of formal tertiary ( or at the very least STPM/A levels/pre-U ) education means that those aspiring for management posts are inadequate in terms of formulating strategies, policies and tactical manoevres. Small wonder flight operations division is diminishing in stature day by day.
That flight operations need new blood for regeneration is very telling.We sorely need people with the intestinal fortitude backed by a well rounded educational foundation to chart a solid path for flight operations be the leading divison in MAS.