how declare variable inside constructor?

[eluser]ranjitbd[/eluser]
class Holiday extends Controller {

function Holiday()
{
parent::Controller();
$data = array(); // can i declare a variable like this in a constructor

}

function access_variable()
{
//want to access that variable like this
$data['name'] = 'ranjit'; // will it work?even i want to access this $data
//in all methods in the controller.
}
}
?>