WHEN he was barely a year old, his parents ? a very young couple probably overwhelmed by the responsibilities of raising a child abandoned him. Little wonder then that Bob Carpenter revels at the prospect of reuniting families and keeping them in touch wherever they may be in the world. It was his way of creating and enjoying an extended family, if only vicariously.

Together with Filipino wife Edith, this retired Kiwi auctioneer recently put up a social networking site to make it easier for Filipino families and their kin in New Zealand to update each other through the web.

Barely three months old, MooPlace.com already has 1,400 to 1,500 members, 55 percent of them based in the Philippines, says Edith. ?We had 40,000 page views in February and get some 50 new members a day,? she adds.

Says Bob: ?MooPlace is a place to have fun, meet and celebrate with fellow kababayans. It?s a 100 percent Filipino website.? Indeed, although based in Auckland, New Zealand, where the Carpenter couple lives, the website is unmistakably Filipino, with a carabao as its motif against a backdrop of the red, white, blue and yellow colors of the Filipino flag.

The Carpenters visited the Philippines last week to promote the website which, Bob reveals, he developed with the help of Filipino IT professionals. It is primarily a tool that allows members to build an online global community without thinking of the cost, he adds. Membership to MooPlace is free.

It took him a year to develop the website, Bob says, because he wanted it to be different from other social networking websites for Filipinos which are mainly ?dating sites.?

Instead, he observed how Filipinos in New Zealand would congregate at certain events like the Sinulog festival, church gatherings and the annual Labour Day Weekend celebration. From talking to his Filipino friends, he learned that they wanted a site where they could upload photos of their families and places they?ve been to. They also want to have links to YouTube where they can upload songs, comedy sketches and videos of events.

Bob was just the man for the job. Retired four years ago as an auctioneer, he was among the first to develop a site for online auctions in New Zealand. He had initially wanted to develop a similar business website but Edith encouraged him to work on something that will help the Filipino community instead.

Thus was MooPlace established, its name and logo a tribute to that very Pinoy mascot, the hardworking carabao, which might as well stand for OFWs scattered all over the globe.

?So this is what I have been doing instead of fishing and playing golf,? says Bob in jest.

Bob and Edith, who have been married for 21 years now and have two children aged 17 and 14, met through a mutual friend. ?It was love at first sight,? says Edith, a tourism graduate who owns her own travel agency, PlanetTravel, and PlanetCruising.

A year into their courtship, Pinatubo erupted, covering in lahar everything that Edith?s parents owned in Pampanga, including their farm and rice fields.

Recalls Bob with a laugh: ?I bought several pigs for her parents, for them to start farming anew. But when I visited the next time, the pigs were gone! They had swapped them for a carabao and went back to tilling the fields.?

When he and Edith finally married and settled in New Zealand, he worked at getting her family over, ?all 24 of her kin,? he adds good-naturedly.

?That?s why we call him `Big Bob,? says Edith. ?He has such a big heart.?

The site?s many features reflect that generosity.

MooPlace, says Bob, is ?Friendster, Facebook and YouTube in one.? It allows members to chat, email each other, do video streaming, download and upload music and photographs, watch movies, blog, play games, read articles and join various fora online for free, on a 24/7 basis.

Inspired by the warm response to the photo section, the website has started holding a monthly photo competition with cash prizes. Members can post entries and vote for the photos of other members,

So far, says Bob, the most popular postings in the site are videos and pictures of Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquaio, and OPM (Original Pilipino Music).

But several planned features might prove to be as welcome. ?We?d like to add a section where members can browse for jobs as well as a listing of, and links to, immigration people in other countries,? says Edith.

Bob is encouraging Filipinos to contribute to the blog section, post comments and participate in forums. ?It is a work in progress,? he says of MooPlace, as he vows to continue adding new features regularly, based on suggestions from members around the world. ? PAC

Log on to www.MooPlace.com or email bob@mooplace.com for more information. ?