reasons are pretty simple....
i am a chinese, with alot of talented soccer friends....
here are some of the reasons:
1) parents feel that one cant earn a living playing soccer in
singapore, plus the time span for the occupation is short....
2) when my friends go for selections, more often or not, its those
malays who know the other malay players who are already in the
team, gets selected....
3) most chinese who can study, will study, then blindly go into the
working world related to wat they studied....
just my 2 cents worth