Only five percent of commercial pilots around the world are women. Our correspondent Miro Lu sat down with one of them, Vanessa Ess. She's SilkAir's first and longest serving female pilot and she has a message to others who dream of flying.

CAPTAIN VANESSA ESS SILKAIR PILOT "From a young age, I think I was influenced by his work and he used to take us to the airport to see planes flying and there were good memories associated with the times that we were looking at aeroplanes. I think it was just a natural tendency for me to want to follow in my father's footsteps."

MIRO LU CGTN CORRESPONDENT "In your earlier career, you were actually a flight attendant. Was that your first choice or was that a sort of a stepping stone for you to get into the cockpit?"

CAPTAIN VANESSA ESS SILKAIR PILOT "During that stint as a flight attendant that I got involved with flying because there was the Singapore Airlines flying club and they were encouraging employees to take up flying to become aware of it and that's why I actually started flying. And it wasn't expected actually."

MIRO LU CGTN CORRESPONDENT "In 2003, you became the first female pilot to graduate from the Singapore flying college. How did you feel at that time?"

CAPTAIN VANESSA ESS SILKAIR PILOT "I was quite exhilarated, I mean, I was quite proud of the fact that we had come so far. You know that, the support that we had. So whether it was from the airline, from my parents. So there were three generations of us here at STC when I was receiving my wings. It was a very special moment."

MIRO LU CGTN CORRESPONDENT "When I was doing some research about you, I read a lot about the 'rose among the thorns'. You mentioned about the male colleagues. How did you find your place?"

CAPTAIN VANESSA ESS SILKAIR PILOT "I was just one with a hundred guys. But they were wonderful. They were true gentlemen. By nature I am quite social, so it was easy to form relationships with them. And I had the benefit of actually having flown in the same training area before when I did my private licence. So I could share with them certain things to look out for, features, the environment, the aircraft. So, that helped to build a relationship with some of them."

MIRO LU CGTN CORRESPONDENT "When people talk about, 'oh she is a good female pilot', does that bother you? Do you sometimes think like, 'I am a good pilot, is a good pilot! Why do you put good 'female' pilot?'"

CAPTAIN VANESSA ESS SILKAIR PILOT "I think initially, probably it did. But after a while, being very comfortable in my role now, these things, actually they don't particularly bother me very much. Because I know my standards, I know what is required, I know I am good at my job. Hopefully one day, yes, they will see us and refer to us as pilots."

MIRO LU CGTN CORRESPONDENT "Do you see this trend that you know more and more women are joining this profession?"

CAPTAIN VANESSA ESS SILKAIR PILOT "Yes. Certainly I think so. We have got social media. By word of mouth, so word spreads, interest spreads, and we have younger generation parents now who are open to a whole assortment of careers and it is not just based on gender or roles which is a nice thing."

MIRO LU CGTN CORRESPONDENT "The 'ninety-nines' association, you are part of this association for female pilots globally. What does this association do?"

CAPTAIN VANESSA ESS SILKAIR PILOT "The idea is to mentor. There is a networking section there as well as scholarships. So, we have annual get togethers. And even like when a pilot, let's say from a different country, she comes to Singapore, we have a directory, so she can look me up. So, it is a wonderful network where we get together, not only about work but we mentor the younger ones, we receive advice from those who are retiring."

MIRO LU CGTN CORRESPONDENT "To the young girls out there who want to be pilots, what advice would you give them?"

CAPTAIN VANESSA ESS SILKAIR PILOT "Sky is the limit. You want to do it? We are here to help you. We are here to guide you. But live your dream. Really, live your dream. It can be done."

MIRO LU CGTN CORRESPONDENT "If you could tell yourself, 20 years ago, you know, give the younger self advice, what would that be?"

CAPTAIN VANESSA ESS SILKAIR PILOT "I would definitely still be a pilot and I'll say, don't be afraid. You know there might be some hard knocks here and there, some realities to deal with, but if you really want something, somehow or other, you will be able to achieve it."