[Vala] Why is there no access to instance data defined in constructor?

[Fred van Zwieten <fvzwieten gmail com>]

Hi all,

Warning: vala noob.

I have a instance variable and gave it a value in the class constructor.

The variable is accessible in other methods in the same class (i.e.
this.foo) but it doesn't have the value set in the constructor. Why
not? This is also true for initial value assignment (public int foo =
12)

When I set it in another method (not the constructor) all is well.

Greetz,
Fred