The temple's troubles began with a land sale. The site had once belonged to Sime Darby, one of Malaysia's largest conglomerates, but was purchased by MCT Bhd, the developers behind the One City commercial project. One City Development obtained a court order to relocate the temple, as they were the registered proprietors of the land. Temple authorities resisted, seeking political intervention to block the move. Selangor state officials acknowledged the court's ruling but attempts by the developer to take possession repeatedly failed. For the worshippers who gathered there for prayers, pujas, and festivals, the temple was not a negotiable asset on a developer's spreadsheet. It was a place their families had prayed in for generations. The legal battle wound through the courts as members of a "pro-stay" faction filed petitions to keep the temple where it stood -- petitions that were ultimately dismissed for insufficient evidence.

In the early hours of 26 November 2018, the dispute erupted into violence. According to the Save Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple task force chairman S. Ramaji, approximately 250 men armed with knives, axes, parangs, and wooden sticks stormed the temple compound and ordered everyone inside to leave immediately. Police arrived two hours later. Seventeen suspects were arrested, and 18 vehicles were set ablaze in the surrounding streets. Reports later emerged that a law firm representing the developer had hired the men to "secure" the premises -- an accusation the firm denied, though the Inspector General of Police subsequently detained a lawyer connected to the developer on suspicion of involvement in the unrest. By the evening of 26 November, a second and larger crowd had gathered at the temple. The situation deteriorated again, with rioters attacking the developer's premises about one kilometer away.

Among the nine emergency responders dispatched to the second riot was Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, a firefighter from the Subang Jaya Fire Station. When the crew came under attack upon arrival, Adib's partner Hazim inadvertently left him exposed in the chaos. He suffered critical injuries. Competing accounts clouded what happened next -- eyewitnesses claimed a reversing fire engine struck Adib, while the Fire and Rescue Department's Director-General categorically denied it. Temple devotees helped the injured firefighter and he was taken to Ramsay Sime Darby Medical Centre, then transferred to Institut Jantung Negara as his condition worsened. He required an ECMO machine to keep him alive. For three weeks, the nation watched and hoped. The Sultan of Kedah visited Adib, who hailed from that state. On the evening of 17 December 2018, Adib died. He was 24 years old and had been due to marry the following month. His name was inscribed on the Fire Department's Fallen Heroes monument in Kuala Kubu Bharu, Selangor.

Adib's death transformed a local land dispute into a national crisis that cut along Malaysia's ethnic and religious divisions. Minister of Unity P. Waytha Moorthy accused police of a delayed and inadequate response, and publicly disputed the Subang Jaya District Police's characterization of the violence as a misunderstanding between two Indian groups. His statements drew accusations of incitement, and opposition lawmakers demanded his resignation. The Prime Minister intervened to keep Waytha Moorthy in his post, but the damage to communal trust was already spreading. On 25 December 2018, one week after Adib's funeral, Jaringan Melayu Malaysia organized a protest in Klang, where its president Azwanddin Hamzah called on supporters to "storm police stations" if authorities failed to act. The temple dispute had metastasized into something far larger -- a test of whether Malaysia's diverse communities could navigate competing claims of faith, property, and justice without tearing at the seams that held them together.