what bike do you currently ride?

Z250 is a good choice. But maintenance a bit costly compare to FZ.

Got one for my brother for 7k cash. Includes insurance.
2013 model. Buy it from direct owner. Hard to get that price from shop.

He specifically want the 2013 model as it heavier and more bulky.

Don't know why. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Got him the bike last year. On june or july
Yes the twin

Since you want it for touring, and a beginner bike, a 250 twin will be a good start, or a 390/400 single, or stretch to Honda CB500.

These are relatively lightweight beginner bikes. Not sure what's your height.

Once you start to ride distance, the 250/390/400 will be insufficient.

i have always advocated that ABS is a good thing and can save one's ass during an emergency. however, i think in your case where you crash the moment you take the ABS out of the equation points to a bigger problem with the fundamental skills or understanding about the science of riding.
that being said, your braking distance doubled is probably because you were afraid to squeeze the lever since you have fallen before. what I suspect is that even with the ABS bike ABS you were not triggering the ABS but merely more confident in using the lever fully.
so ABS is good, but you should learn how to work the bike properly without it. after all, having to rely on it heavily meant that you are being hamfisted with your controls and unless you work to gain the finesse on the bike, the bigger bikes will come bite you in the ass sooner or later.

I agree that having ABS is good safety feature, reduce braking distance, allow the bike brake in a straight line, and decrease chance of losing the front and sliding. To a rider, it gives them higher confidence to press the brake lever harder and let ABS modulate to achieve the best braking force.

I did press it very hard every time I do the emergency braking section, the bike ABS kicks in (grinding) without fail and I can stop before the halfway point and felt the front fork dipped down and rebounded. But, without ABS, it is always after the halfway point. Probably like what you said when I am riding non-ABS, i don't to press the front brake harder, but i can feel the rear wheel locked and dragging (instructor told me to use 1 finger's force for the front and use more rear brakes after I fell, he said to let the rear tyre lock better than front, hands firm and steer straight). That's why I said I am quite lucky and unfortunate at the same time, able to experience both ABS and non-ABS on the same type of bike.

as for gear indicator... i am at two mind about this. it is nice to have and beginners tend to think that they need it, but i feel that it is not absolutely necessary. not having an indicator meant that you will have to learn to feel your bike a bit more.
if you do get a bike with a gear indicator, try riding around a bit with the indicator taped over and you might discover yourself listening and feeling the bike more than you would otherwise.

I never use beyond 2nd gear, but I thought every new bike should have it already. But I agree, after a while riding a bike and you'll get used to the speed the rpm and which gear you are in. But, sometimes it is good to have something to refer to instead of having to guess/memorise which gear you are in, especially the lower few gears when slowing down to a stop into Neutral.

i would say get the smaller bike. you have no experience, don't understand the flow of the traffic and the act of riding is already going to be stressful, no point making it more difficult with a bigger and heavier bike.
there are bound to be people who tell you that you will soon grow tired of the bike and perhaps you might, but even if you do sell the bike after a year or two you only take a hit of a few thousands. you probably suffer more in big bike depreciation during the same period
I seen many riders who get on big capacity bike as their first bike and are so fearful of riding that they detour just to avoid filtering in traffic. on a smaller bike you are more likely to have the confidence to ride in all kinds of traffic and having the exposure will accelerate your learning.
ofcoz everyone is different, there are also many who jump straight onto a big bike and ride through KL traffic like a boss within a week so everyone's experience is different.

my point is. if you feel that your comfort level is on a small bike and you plan to get one to learn the traffic, then don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. if you panic, fall or scratch a car due to failed filtering, those people are not going to chip in for your repairs.
Well said. I haven't try ride other bikes, but that Z650 180+kg is not for me to start riding. I want to try Z250 though, but not sure where to find one to try. If it is not too wider and heavier than a FZ150i/MT-15, it should be a good option to consider. Of course, 2nd hand Z250 😆.

not sure what you mean by "I did press it very hard every time I do the emergency braking section" but you should be squeezing hard and fast, but progressively. this goes for all aspects of riding a bike from throttling to steering. like i said, its probably a matter of confidence on the brakes.

get the bike with ABS whenever possible, but don't neglect to work on smoothening your controls. it is indeed true that letting the rear tyre lock is indeed better than front lock if your are coming to a rest. but rear wheel lock is also a recipe for high-side at highspeed, so it is important to understand the context of the riding. anyways, the best is no tyre lock at all (unless you are offload) which is where the ABS comes in.

nope. not every new bike has that. like i said, gear indicator is good to have, but new riders may become too focused on them that they become slow to learn to read their bikes. so like i said, if your bike comes with an indicator, might be a good idea to tape over it when out training to get a feel of not looking at the indicator (provided it has a separate neutral indicator that is). you don't really "memorize" your gear. its a case of shifting up when you are past the torque peak or if you are past a certain RPM and shifting down when you feel the gearing is too high.

don't be mistaken, i think gear indicator is great to have, but it can hamper riders learning if they become unduly reliant on that. and many new riders do  become overly focused on their gear position. look down only if you are uncertain, not at every gear.

if i were a complete new rider looking at my first bike, i will probably pick up a single cylinder. they are typically lighter, cheaper to run and i actually like the thump exhaust note. also it leave room when it comes to upgrading to a twin. but that's me. the Z250 is a perfectly good bike.

anyways, just ride safe and never stop learning the skills.