Armando Siahaan – In the world of Marvel comics, "With great power comes great responsibility," as the oft-quoted Spider-Man line goes. But that's in the world of comics, where good always triumphs over evil. In real life, power seems to bring the greatest sense of irresponsibility.

We learned last week that Indonesia's diplomats owe New York City an embarrassing $725,000 in parking fines, making our country the third worst foreign violator in the city, after Egypt and Nigeria.

I can't help but wonder whether this somewhat unsurprising debacle is just another example of the wider mentality that is glaringly evident among the country's so-called untouchables, who seem to live by the words: "I am important, therefore I can do whatever I want." I'd like to offer some possible explanations as to how these diplomats managed to rack up so many parking violations.

The first explanation, a rather rudimentary one, is that the parking tab is proof of how lazy Indonesia's officials are. New York uses parking meters, where motorists have to put coins into the meter to park for a certain period of time. So if the meter has a two-hour limit, that means the owner of the vehicle has to go back to the spot every two hours to feed the meter more coins. If they don't, they will be fined. To amass $725,000 worth of penalties could be an indication of how glued to their chairs some of Indonesia's diplomats are.

Triyono Wibowo, the deputy foreign minister, explained that the parking debt was not a new problem and blamed, in part, New York City's failure to provide adequate parking for diplomats. Is the deputy minister really suggesting that the already cramped and crowded New York City needs to reshape its urban landscape just to cater to the demands of a few Indonesian diplomats?

"It is customary that diplomats from closely related countries are treated in a special way," said a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Priyo Budi Santoso. Should such special treatment really extend to something as trivial as parking? Yes, Indonesia should be allocated parking spaces for some of its diplomats – not all of them. Perhaps the rest could try taking public transportation, like other New Yorkers do?

Another possible explanation is that this could be a case of our diplomats practicing a certain Indonesian socio-legal culture, even while residing in a foreign land. We are all familiar with the custom of getting away with traffic violations through an "amicable handshake" with the men in brown. When some Indonesians go abroad, perhaps they think that they can apply the same mentality.

This case may well just be another example of the widespread epidemic of our public officials, whether elected or appointed, exploiting the power bestowed upon them. Every day we learn about corruption cases that bleed the country of public funds, with the perpetrators ranging from low-ranking civil servants to elected lawmakers and even former ministers.

The root of this phenomenon is simple: They know they have power, and power is a key that can open many doors, including judicial leeway. Applying this theory to the New York parking fine situation, we might have a case where our diplomats know they have immunity, and therefore abuse their power by disregarding the city's regulations on how to park appropriately.

Public officials should be role models for their citizens. If those in power have no respect for the law, how can they expect citizens to pay any heed? In any case, who's going to pick up that tab?

[Armando Siahaan is a reporter at the Jakarta Globe and writes a weekly column about current events.]