Pac-Man Zebra Crossing in Tebet: Residents' Action Highlights Safety Aspects
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The white lines that should serve as safe markers for pedestrians on Jalan Prof Dr Soepomo in Tebet, South Jakarta, had temporarily disappeared. At several points, the zebra crossings were no longer visible, and even the road markings had faded.
This situation did not escape the attention of road users and sparked action from residents. One of them was content creator Ijoel, who went viral on social media by highlighting the issue.
“Social media activities like this have been going on for a long time. And it’s not just zebra crossings, but public facilities that are often complained about, such as illegal parking, illegal levies, to potholed roads,” Ijoel told Kompas.com on Wednesday (1/4/2026).
He once became a victim of damaged roads in 2016 on the Pancoran flyover. At that time, he fell off his motorbike and couldn’t walk for two weeks, losing his job.
“From there, I had the intention, once recovered, to reduce others experiencing the same thing,” he said.
Since then, he has been active in highlighting various public facility issues, from damaged roads to dangling cables. The zebra crossing in Tebet became one of his most striking findings.
According to Ijoel, there are at least five points of zebra crossings in the area that are missing or incomplete. Yet, the location is in a densely active area, surrounded by offices, places of worship, schools, and residential areas.
“The zebra crossings have been missing for months. And it’s not just the zebra crossings, the road markings are also absent,” he said.
He suspects this condition occurred after phased road repairs. However, the repair process resulted in the road markings not being repainted.
Ijoel admitted to reporting the condition to the sub-district office and via the JAKI application. However, there has been no clear follow-up.
Amid this situation, he was reminded by another content creator who had previously posted about the pavement conditions in the same location. The Eid al-Fitr holiday was used for direct action in the field.
Instead of just creating content, Ijoel and several mural artists decided to repaint the zebra crossing at one of the most critical points, near the Pancoran traffic lights.
However, the zebra crossing was not made ordinary. They added visual elements in the form of Pac-Man game characters, which then attracted public attention.
“About 80 percent remains zebra crossing, 20 percent art. So the function is still there for crossing the road,” said Ijoel.