I was too young, and the old Bugis Street was already demolished by then.
My only memory of that area in the 1980s was that cars could still drive by the Waterloo Street temple, and there was a horde of beggars (Beggar Sect?) waiting outside the temple.
Another memory: Albert Complex, a retro mall where I used to frequently go to buy Casio wrist watches. It is the OG mall now.