Winter in Singapore

What a relief to get back from a 2 week stint in Bali and find that winter has finally arrived in Sing!
Gone are the hot, steamy days when even breathing seems too much of a hassle and feeling like a jellyfish washed up on a rock, slowly melting away in the sweltering heat is the best description I can give of how I have felt in the past 6 months.
All the shops have geared up for this and put on display their best winter frocks ready for the first snow flurries and walks in the forest in search of chestnuts to roast on an open fire.
Zara was the first with its knee high boots and long, warm knitted coats but Armani was soon to follow with fur trimmed jackets and thick sweaters and one after the other all the designers shops have stepped up and mittens and woolen scarves now adorn the glossy display windows. What a treat!
There is only one small detail that seems to have been missed by this shopping Mecca, a minor thing, maybe really barely noticeable and I should probably not make such a fuss about it.
Still it niggles in the back of my mind and I cannot get rid of it.
The point is that while in one hemisphere or the other there is always a winter , often with snow and sometimes cold, slimy sleet there is no such thing here, a blink away from the equator where seasons do not change in a significant way.
Yes, I admit losing 2 degrees in the past week has been bliss moving my melting jellyfish status to that of a soon to be chilly crab minutes away from the pot but the grim reality is that it is still a hot place to live in, no matter how many mentally challenged teenagers walk the streets in Uggs and leather jackets giving off that slight corn chip aroma so typical of sweaty feet. Older shopaholic steer clear of winter wear but I can see a slight look of panic in their eyes and the horrible realization that summer clothes are miles away. Fingers clutch and release Visa cards almost maniacally and I suppose shrinks have their work cut out in this period as many ladies - and gentlemen as well- feel the crippling sense of loss from lack of swiping . Winter tis' the season to be jolly? Doubt it or at least not here, a stone throw away from the equator.
Maybe then there is a reason why expats rush home at Xmas as soon as the international schools close up and it is not to see their families or friends, to carve fat geese and plump turkeys and slump heaving on the sofa saying, as they do every year, "I ate too much". I do not want to start a rush of family recriminations but I just wonder if the siren call of unused Platinum cards has something to do with it